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Dear Reader,
Writing a story in 426 words keeping it tight and concise, yet painting a picture that draws the reader in and puts a tear in their eye. That's exactly what Lee Harrington, the First Runner up in this year's Write a Dear Reader contest was able to do. What a pleasure it was to read her story.
Lee is a legal assistant, who loves to cook, kayak and ride motorcycles. She has a 250 Honda and is looking for a riding buddy. Any takers?
It's a pleasure to present Lee's moving entry "Red Tails"...
On Friday, January 20, 2012, a new movie, Red Tails, opened across the country. The brief description of the movie as given online, is this:
"It is an account of the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black World War II fighter pilot squad. The squadron, which was sent to North Africa and Italy to escort white bomber pilots, consisted of some of the best fighter pilots in the Air Corps."
My adult sons had heard about the movie and they had a plan. They knew that their 85-year-old grandfather, who had served in WWII himself, had always had a fond appreciation for anything related to WWII, especially the period aircraft. Throughout his life, he had built literally hundreds of scale models of these planes, had given model-building kits to them, and he had probably read hundreds of books and magazines and seen every film ever made on the subject. He had also attended numerous air shows with them and other family members. They knew he would certainly want to see this movie and be part of the experience in a theater.
The elderly gentleman was happy to oblige and was thrilled to be picked up by his grandsons and chauffeured to the movie theater. They said the walk through the lobby and down the aisle to a row somewhere in the middle of the small theater took quite a while, as their grandfather's step had slowed considerably in recent years and he now has some difficulty walking. But, walk he did, unassisted, down the aisle, flanked by his grandsons, proudly wearing his World War II cap, as a large number of moviegoers already in their seats casually looked on.
A couple of hours later, when the movie ended and the lights came back up, something truly remarkable happened. Many of the other moviegoers--about a dozen or so, they said--all total strangers, suddenly began gathering around. They wanted to shake this man's hand and thank him for his service! He was utterly astounded and deeply touched that this group of strangers had even noticed him, let alone that they had taken the time to reach out to him in this way. My grown sons, tearful and speechless, were bursting with pride! They both said it was one of THE most amazing, unbelievable and truly awesome things they had ever experienced and couldn't wait to tell the rest of the family what had transpired. None of them will ever forget that Friday evening at the movies that turned into quite a remarkable and memorable event for them all!
--Ms. Lee Harrington
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
AUTHORBUZZ: Fun, free books and meet authors. Ask questions, they'll reply and read samples from their books. Visit AuthorBuzz at: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
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THE SHOGUN'S DAUGHTER by Laura Joh Rowland
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STRANDED by Dani Pettrey
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