Dear Kim,

I want to introduce myself to you although we did meet once several years ago when you were living in Poplarville. I knew your father through all of our “growing up” years but somehow life just takes friends in a different direction and we lose touch.

When Billy’s father got out of the service, he joined Louise and Billy at Gaggie’s house in Poplarville. Big Bill, Louise and Billy then moved to Africa. Billy and I lived across the street from each other, started first grade together, and he moved to Africa for a short time and then returned to live with his grandmother because of the school situation in Africa.

So, during those many years we were just such good friends, like boyfriend / girlfriend, and also very close to all the other children in our neighborhood. We did get to the age of dating but then we just returned to being “good friends” and nothing closer. Actually, about the 6th grade, a new, good-looking girl moved to Poplarville, All the boys my age just went bananas over her and your dad even paid a mutual friend $.50 to sit by me at the movie so he could walk down the aisle, look at me sitting by someone else and then announce we were “breaking up!” It was all such an innocent wonderful age and town to grow up in and your dad was very much a good friend and great guy.

During one of those innocent years, about the second grade, Billy gave me the enclosed pin. He said it was an emblem that was on his dad’s uniform while he was in the Navy. You know how you keep things, old jewelry and things that just get “shelved” somewhere, and then suddenly they just appear. During Katrina our house flooded and many items were just boxed away to be looked at later. About four or five months ago I was going through an old jewelry box and other “stuff” we rescued after the storm but did not have time to address. There in the box was the Navy pin Billy had given me 60-something years ago !!! I heard that he was not well and I started trying to find someone who knew where he was living. I asked my sister, who had moved back to Poplarville to find me an address. Intuition should never be ignored but again, I left it up to someone else to find Billy’s address for me instead of actively searching. Within a few weeks, my sister to called to say that Billy had died.

My biggest regret is that we did not get to touch base again and that he did not get to see his dad’s pin. AND, once again, I asked my sister to get your address for me, so I am a little belated in expressing my sympathy to you in the loss of your father. He was a fun, handsome guy and a long-ago great friend!

Forgive my lengthy letter but I wanted to tell you how this pin had made the round through several states, through several hurricanes and now to you.