A surprise phone call.....

Wednesday August 22, 2012 ~ When I got home tonight Brandon and I were talking while he ate dinner. At 6:55 pm I get a phone call.... "Michele, this is Eugene Pottinger. Do you remember me?" I was so glad to hear from him as he said he would write me when he got home and it had been a while since I had last seen or talked to him. I told him of course I remember him and it was good to hear his voice! He said he had been home about 8 days and he was currently working with a Fire Department in California helping to put out wild fires and was currently working 144 miles from home. I had several people tell me that they saw him near the Boonville exit and then Moberly exit recently so I asked him about it. He said he has been in California not at those exits. (I really didn't have a reason not to believe him but I had to ask) I asked him if he had talked to his wife (based on our previous discussion at breakfast) and he said that he had talked to her and she let him back in the house. He said they have talked a lot and are working on their relationship. He said for now he is trying to work and help provide for them. He said lately he's been working long days but when he gets home (not sure if he goes home after so many days of work) they talk a lot. You could tell he was happy... heck I was happy to hear that he was safe and sound. He asked me a few questions about my blog and wondered where I got the poem from the first entry (A Homeless Veteran Named Eugene) and I told him I just looked up on Google and found it as it seemed fitting. He told me that he had sent me a package of 45 pages that he wrote via Fed Ex today so I should have them soon. He said he wrote from the time he enlisted in the military to his time spent in Midway and the people he met while he was here. He said that there are some things he doesn't want me to share and has noted those in his letter. I will respect his wishes however I will be excited to share some more details about Eugene as so many of us want to know more from the time I spent with him the day he traveled home. It was a great surprise and one that you could tell he was smiling on the other end of the line. I told him to call me anytime and now we just wait on the mail.....