Marilyn Fletcher
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I had a 10 o’clock appointment to interview Marilyn Fletcher, but I was sidetracked by a phone call and didn’t get to the Soldiers Home until 10:02. In my world, that’s practically a day early, but the Soldiers Home runs strictly on time, all the time. No one is ever late for anything at the Soldiers Home – I don’t know whether that’s etiquette, military protocol, a generational thing, or all three, but my dad is the same way, and I try very hard to adhere.
But still, I was late, and I knew what I would find. Yep—Marilyn was waiting for me, not necessarily patiently, poised on her bed and ready to get on with it already.
We went to the Roosevelt Barracks’ day room, and a man I’d never met was sitting at a table playing solitaire. I told him what we were doing and gave him a form letter explaining my project in case he wanted to participate. He didn’t seem particularly interested, but he stayed around and watched our interview.
Afterwards, when Marilyn had left, I introduced myself and asked whether he wanted to tell me his story.
Turns out his name is Jim Wunders, and he did.
"I’ve got 20 years of service and 25 minutes to talk about it," he said.
"That’ll work," I told him. Then I asked what was going on in 25 minutes.
"Gotta get to Chow," he said.
Jim had a schedule. And I was not going to throw it off. We got done in time.
I had a 10 o’clock appointment to interview Marilyn Fletcher, but I was sidetracked by a phone call and didn’t get to the Soldiers Home until 10:02. In my world, that’s practically a day early, but the Soldiers Home runs strictly on time, all the time. No one is ever late for anything at the Soldiers Home – I don’t know whether that’s etiquette, military protocol, a generational thing, or all three, but my dad is the same way, and I try very hard to adhere.
But still, I was late, and I knew what I would find. Yep—Marilyn was waiting for me, not necessarily patiently, poised on her bed and ready to get on with it already.
We went to the Roosevelt Barracks’ day room, and a man I’d never met was sitting at a table playing solitaire. I told him what we were doing and gave him a form letter explaining my project in case he wanted to participate. He didn’t seem particularly interested, but he stayed around and watched our interview.
Afterwards, when Marilyn had left, I introduced myself and asked whether he wanted to tell me his story.
Turns out his name is Jim Wunders, and he did.
"I’ve got 20 years of service and 25 minutes to talk about it," he said.
"That’ll work," I told him. Then I asked what was going on in 25 minutes.
"Gotta get to Chow," he said.
Jim had a schedule. And I was not going to throw it off. We got done in time.
Jim Wunders
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