<\/p>\n
Stratton asked<\/strong> <\/span>me, \u201cHow was it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow was what<\/em>? I survived — whatever it was,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cGood. What\u2019s your field, chap?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Real estate, music and writing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI bet you like the music and writing best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou got<\/strong><\/span> that right. I\u2019m Bert Stratton. What\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTom Stratton-Crooke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re relatives!\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cI could tell by the cut of your jib.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s your<\/em> field?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cSteamships,\u201d he said. \u201cHey, where did you go to school?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMichigan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnn Arbor?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. What<\/strong><\/span> about you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKing\u2019s Point, the Merchant Marine Academy. Then NYU. I was in Japan and Korea, and Iran, and then throughout the Middle East. The colonel liked my loquacious manner.\u201d<\/p>\n “Hah.”<\/p>\n “I just got my third jab. Moderna. I’m 88. You never know.”<\/p>\n “You’re gonna need a fourth shot. You’re big.”<\/p>\n “Hah. You watch Downton Abbey<\/em>?”<\/p>\n “Not in, like, five years.”<\/p>\n “I missed season one. I’m watching it now. My father served in the Grenadiers. He had the same medals as Lord Grantham.”<\/p>\n “You’re from England?”<\/p>\n “My father was. I was in Mary Poppins<\/em> in high school in New Rochelle. Does that count?”<\/p>\n “That counts.”<\/p>\n “Do you<\/strong> <\/span>want me to sing ‘Burlington Bertie from Bow?'”<\/p>\n “I never heard of it.”<\/p>\n “I’ll pull it up on my phone. Julie Andrews sings it. She’s marvelous.”<\/p>\n “Have you ever seen that clip of Julie Andrews singing Yiddish?”<\/p>\n “Can’t say that I have.”<\/p>\n ——<\/p>\n