After we were relieved of our outerwear, we were directed through a set of magnetometers towards a hall. The Secret Service was being vigilant, and they took my cane (dark mahogany, with an oiled bronze head) and examined it. I knew security would get worse in the future.
We ended up in a line outside a reception hall. A young lady greeted us and told us the drill. The President and First Lady would greet us, we would shake hands and pose for a photo, and then we would continue on into a reception for a few drinks. After that we would move on to a dinner, after which the President would say a few words. Then she was further down the line for the newest arrivals.
After we were left in the line, John turned to me and said, "I've seen you with the cane a few other times as well. You need that all the time?"
"Mostly just in the evenings. My knee stiffens up in the evening and starts bothering me.", I answered.
"If you don't mind my asking, what's wrong with your knee?"
I smiled. It was a common enough question, and I gave my usual answer. "I used to be a paratrooper, and I made one jump too many. I had a hard landing and wrecked my knee."
"Well no wonder!", exclaimed Debbie Boehner. "That's so dangerous! Weren't you worried your parachute wouldn't open?!"
I couldn't help it. I grinned at her and said, "I never worried about that. Our parachutes had a 100% guarantee."
"A guarantee? How do you guarantee a parachute?", she asked.
"Well, if your chute fails to open, all you have to do is take it back, and they'll give you a brand new one, free of charge!", I answered.
Debbie's eyes opened wide at that, but her husband chuckled. Marilyn said, "Please, don't get him started! You wouldn't believe how many jokes they have about this stuff."
"Like what?", asked John, laughing.
"Like, 'We've never left anybody up there' and 'It's not the fall that gets you, it's the sudden stop at the end!' I used to hear these guys all the time back in the day." She turned to face me and wagged a finger at me. "It used to get old even then!"
"I would have paid good money to watch you jump out of a plane, good money!", I replied.
"You guys were crazy.", commented John. "I enlisted in the Navy but screwed up my back and they cut me loose while I was still in basic training."
"My dad was Navy, but I get seasick, so I went into the Army instead.", I admitted.
By this time we had worked our way up the line to where we would be going in soon, so we quieted down. Another young lady took our names and reported them. Then John and Debbie were ushered forward, where they shook hands and posed for pictures, and after that it was Marilyn and me. Forget about any impromptu discussions of foreign policy; it was "Thank you for coming.", followed by smiles and the flash of a camera. Then we were off and into the reception.
We circulated around the room, being polite and trying to make small talk, but it was actually a bit surreal to both of us. I mean, this was the White House, the home of the President of the United States! Congressman or not, what in the fuck was I doing being so presumptuous as to think I could be here?! At one point I whispered to Marilyn, "This is just so fucking weird!"
"What, being in the White House?"
"Yeah!"
"No shit!"
We were standing with the Boehners when Mr. and Mrs. Bush came up to us, circulating so as to greet everybody. A pair of large fellows in tuxedos were standing a few feet behind them, eyes constantly moving around the room. They had to be Secret Service. "I'd like to thank you all for coming.", said the President.
"Thank you for inviting us, sir.", replied John. The rest of us parroted him.
"Have you been able to find apartments or houses and settle in?"
Marilyn and I nodded. "We managed to move into a place this weekend. Marilyn will be going back home with the kids on Sunday. I'll be staying in town when I can't get home nights.", I said.
Debbie Boehner also admitted she would be staying at home with the children most of the time. John asked, "So, where is your regular home?"
"About half an hour north of Baltimore.", said Marilyn. "We're still trying to figure out the commuting." She turned to me, and asked, "Did you close on the deal with the plane and helicopter yet?"
The others turned to us and stared. I just shook my head and said, "No, next week, I think."
"You're buying a plane and a helicopter?", asked Barbara Bush.
"Yes, ma'am. The helicopter is what I'll commute in. We're also acquiring a Gulfstream IV for anything long distance. That would be too big for commuting, though."
The others didn't quite know what to say. I broke the ice by admitting, "I've actually been here once before."
Marilyn gave me an odd look. "When?"
"When I was little. My godmother, my Aunt Peg, drove me down here for the tour. I mean, it was probably an hour-and-a-half, maybe two hours. That must have been back during the Kennedy presidency."
"Do you remember it? Did you see the President?", Marilyn asked.
President Bush chuckled at that. "You don't actually meet anybody on the tours. How old were you?"
I shrugged. "I couldn't have been more than five or six. The only thing I remember was waiting forever for the tour to start. I just remember a really long line!" I turned to Marilyn and said, "You know, President Bush here is a paratrooper, too!"
Marilyn turned to the Bushes, who were laughing at this. "You don't look crazy!", she commented.
That really got Mrs. Bush laughing. Mr. Bush chuckled and said, "It wasn't planned. I had to bail out of my bomber over Chichijima. It was the accelerated course, I guess you could say. Was that your service? You were a paratrooper?"
"Yes, sir, airborne artillery."
"Your old outfit is over there now, isn't it?", he asked. We got more serious at that. A big chunk of the Army was currently deployed in Saudi Arabia shielding the Saudis from the Iraqis. It was still Desert Shield, and wouldn't turn into Desert Storm for another month or so.
"Yes, sir, the 82nd Airborne."
"You miss it?", he asked.
I hadn't thought about it all that much, but as he asked it, I knew it was true. I nodded and said, "Yes, sir, I suppose I do. I'd have probably had a battalion, maybe a brigade by now. God forgive me, but I would want to be there." I looked at Marilyn with a guilty smile.
Marilyn smiled back and tightened her hand in mine. "Carl was planning on going career when he messed up his knee.", she told the others. To me she said, "You've already got a medal, you don't need any more. Don't be angry if I say I'm not sorry you're out."
"Never.", I said, smiling back.
We chatted another minute or so, and then they excused themselves and moved on. The Boehners turned to us and John asked, "You are buying a jet and a helicopter? I remember hearing at the time about the billionaire investor who was trying to buy a district. Well, you know what I mean. You really could have, couldn't you?!" He wasn't asking rudely.