Saturday – Part One
Samila Nicholson of Colorado Vista College graduates this Sunday at 3:00p.m.
Diary, today seemed like a day of huge tasks, but even greater determination and possibility. We had an author for our letter – and a strict timetable. Surely we wouldn't fail on this – it all seemed too important. The letter writer Samila wanted to express her gratitude to the US soldier who saved her life and changed her path for the better. We had to do whatever we could to make this happen.
We began the day with coffee from the Denver Bean Coffee cart (of course) and then a drive to Colorado Vista College. We certainly had clocked up the miles on this case – I hope it is not too much for Oliver's Jag. The registrar of the college told us that Samila worked in the College Library, and so to that building we went.
Samila is lovely. I guess I was a little afraid that this might have been a case of someone with a crush wanting to re-connect with a potential love interest, but that wasn't it at all. Samila wanted Buzz to know what a difference his actions had made, and to say thank you to a beloved friend. I was very much here for that! Talking to her gave us our next clue – Peg's Practically Perfect Brownies. For a small moment I did wonder if I had slipped down a rabbit hole (again), or maybe found a cake that said, 'Eat Me'. I was feeling very left out (sometimes I forget that the DLO existed before me and they have a shared history that doesn't include me) as everyone recited, 'Peg's Practically Perfect Brownies' in a weird sort of canon. Apparently, Peg had shipped some brownies that had become stranded at the DLO. A quick search revealed that Peg Parker began her company to honour her son who served in Afghanistan. So now we are off in search of Peg Parker, and her practically perfect brownies.
(A small aside – when Oliver talks about letters, reading, writing and the beauty of the written word I am inspired anew to keep up with this diary. I know my own words cannot match those of Oliver, or of the marvellous letters we are entrusted to deliver, but I do feel like this – keeping a diary, even if no one other than me will ever read this - is important.)
Yet more driving! We returned to Denver to visit Mrs Parker. What a truly brave and remarkable woman she is. She has turned grief for her missing son into parcels of hope for other service people. If her son has one tenth of her compassion and kindness (and from what Samila said of him, I know he does) then Benjamin Parker is also a remarkable person.
I was so sick of driving! I think I have spent the past two days in a car! Now that we had a name, we could return to Fort Platt to talk to Captain Hopper, so that obviously became our next objective. I don't know how Oliver, Norman and Rita do it. Once they get stuck into a case, they become focussed on that and nothing else. I mean, I am focussed too, but I also need a little bit of sustenance. Just to see what kind of a face he would pull. I did suggest to Oliver that he take his precious car through a drive-through at a fast-food chain to get some lunch…and yes, diary, the face was worth it. Norman did offer me a brownie, but I needed real food. Six dramatic sighs on my part was all it took to get Oliver to pull up at a cute little retro diner that I would like to find again some time.