The last time I drove onto Lowry Air Force base, I told the guard I was there to pick up my cousin, Joe. He has something to do with bombs, I told the guard. Munitions, the guard corrected.
It was 1977, and my friend Janice and I were on the First Epic Road Trip. We took Joe to see the Denver opening of Star Wars, which blew us away. After the movie, we were blown a different way when our truck would not start. Nada. Nothing. Zip.
Finally, I dug up the phone number for the Aunt Doris of a kid back home, who’d given me her number — just in case.
I called Aunt Doris and explained our plight. I was amazed (and grateful) by her immediate offer of help to someone she’d never met.
Eventually, I married the kid back home and got to see Aunt Doris from time to time.
Friday, as part of the Current Epic Road Trip, I made my second trip to what is now the Lowry neighborhood, an outstanding example of successful urban redevelopment.
Aunt Doris directed me to one of her favorite restaurants and peppered me with questions about the family.
Now 90, she’s still amazing.
“I wake up every morning grateful to be here,” she told me, quite cheerfully. “Why worry about tomorrow? I may not be here tomorrow, so I just focus on being here today.”
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