Meeting New Friends in… New Jersey
Just a few weeks ago on Wednesday, September 11 — I was with a group of Active Duty Military, Veteran’s, and Wounded Veteran’s on a trip from Key West, FL to NYC for the conclusion of the Never Quit Challenge.
It was our official 7th day on the road and we had just left Atlantic City and were NYC bound on the Garden State Parkway. There were at least 6 of us in a big conversion van and another car behind us — headed north to meet up with our jet-ski riders in Elizabeth. It was already a “heavy” morning. We all had 9/11 on our minds…. we were all very quiet…. which was a first for this 7th day of our trip. We decided to pull over at this little gas station area right off the freeway to fuel up, use the facilities, and grab some food. Sean (my road buddy all week) was putting gas in the van, and I was cleaning off the windshield when all of a sudden I hear this guy hollerin’ at me….. “Hey, Hey, Hey YOU!” I turned to see this man hanging out of his “Big Rig” waving his arms at me. I stopped cleaning the windshield and yelled back…. “What?” He proceeded to get out of his truck and head in my direction. I immediately saw that he was wearing a very familiar pair of BOOTS…
Let me introduce you to Manny! Manny saw my Boot Campaign BOOTS and my T-shirt and just had to flag me down. I introduced him to Jeff Glasser, Roberto Cruz and the entire group with us. He THANKED everyone for their service and let me just tell you… he made us smile and laugh! He broke up the “heavy” feeling of the morning and I think it’s just what we needed.
It just goes to show…. You NEVER know where you might meet a Boot Campaign and Military Supporter. How would we have ever known we both supported the same cause — if it wasn’t for our BOOTS? 🙂 Manny…. If you ever read this… THANK YOU! Thank you for hollerin’ at us and thank you for making us smile!
