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"Do not neglect to show
hospitality to strangers,
for thereby some have
entertained angels
unawares."
Hebrews 13:2
Thanksgiving 1965 is a holiday I’ll never forget. Gene and I had celebrated our first Thanksgiving together in the “chow hall” in Samsun, Turkey. Now we were in our first house- a teeny, tiny doll house in Key West. Needless to say, I had never cooked Thanksgiving dinner but had always enjoyed my Mother’s good Southern cooking.
A week before the big day Gene came home with some big news. He was a flight commander at the Air Force Security Service site on Cudjoe Key and had a number of troops in his flight. He and his chief master sergeant decided to find out which of the airmen in their flight did not have a place to go for Thanksgiving dinner and to divide them between the two of them- with the sergeant having first choice! I couldn’t say no.
We borrowed tables and chairs from the site and lined them up in the living room and kitchen. I called my Mother repeatedly (phone calls were expensive then!). How do I buy the turkey? how do I cook the turkey? how in the world do I make the cornbread dressing? I made 4 or 5 gallons of iced tea and arranged centerpieces of fruit. On the big day, 8 airmen arrived, plus 3 lieutenants who just happened to drop by. We had a wonderful time and no leftovers; even the centerpieces went back to the barracks!
I don’t have space to tell you about all the interesting personalities, but one “angel” came to our house that day and stayed with us for many years. Sergeant Lee S. arrived in the front yard on Friday with a huge vase of yellow roses from the airmen. He came back for Thanksgiving the following year and then was transferred to Okinawa. After Gene arrived in Okinawa, and before I did, Lee would check by Gene’s BOQ room, sew on loose buttons for him and generally make sure that he looked okay! Very soon after I arrived, he came to see about me, my 8-month-old baby and my 8-month-old German shepherd in the aftermath of my first typhoon (Gene in mainland Japan).
Lee was always careful to maintain strict protocol at work (Gene was no longer his flight commander) but became a sort of adjunct family member after duty hours. He was frequently at our house for dinner (always Thanksgiving) and could be counted on to go shopping around the island with me, something Gene didn’t usually care about doing. Quite often we all shared Okinawan, Japanese, or Chinese meals. He took us to the Tea House of the August Moon (Anyone remember that?) And later he searched for months in his Vietnam base exchange to replace our daughter’s “walla bear that played Waltzing ‘Tilda,” who was lost on the plane ride back home.
When we were back in the States Lee traveled to Mississippi, Wisconsin, and Virginia for Thanksgiving with us. On his last trip, when he was no longer able to drive, his partner brought him from Texas, and we said goodbye for the last time.
Lee never thought of himself as being religious, but he unselfishly shared God’s love with our family for many years. He was our angel with a precise mid-western accent- an unexpected gift to us- our “angel unawares.”
Dear God, who entreats us to show hospitality to strangers, help us to embrace and welcome all Your children for Your love's sake. Amen
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