PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 70 - The Sacred Band of Thebes

PAWPAW'S  MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 70 

Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!

I miss you guys so much. I hope you find these messages some day. I want you to know that I love you. I never left you. I was no longer allowed to visit you. I hope these messages help you know your Pawpaw and your family better. All my love forever, Pawpaw

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I have been thinking about writing an ode about The Sacred Band. Prior to Christianity, in the Greek era, the Greeks were divided by city states. They united against foes but fought between themselves often too.

Everyone knows of the mighty Spartan warriors who have always been referred to as the mightiest of Greek warriors. You may have seen the movie THE 300.

It has finally been confirmed that the city state of Thebes had a world renowned army called The Sacred Band of Thebes. It was an elite special forces unit of 150 gay couples! In this era, homosexuality and bisexuality were as normal as heterosexuality.

The Sacred Band of Thebes faced off against the invading Spartans and the gays kicked their asses and sent them retreating back to Sparta. Later Phillip of Macedonia (Alexander the Great's father) invaded with an army or tens of thousands. The Sacred Band was outnumbered and slaughtered BUT Phillip remarked that they were the bravest fighters he had ever encountered and he built a monument to them (his enemies) to show his respect. He even had them buried with their armor and weapons. This was unheard of. Weapons were always taken. He even had them buried with their lovers, side by side and sometimes holding hands.

Why don't we know about this? Because Muslims and Christians had the monument torn down and buried because it promoted homosexuality. Later, archaeologists literally erased written records of The Sacred Band or skipped over them in history records.

Luckily, an archaeologist with integrity found the burial site and the monument. he photographed the lovers buried with their weapons holding hands in addition to often-hidden written historical documents verified the truth of The Sacred Band.

So, I want to write The Ode of the Sacred Band.

Hugs,

Pawpaw

Another reason this is important to me is because Pawpaw has many friends who were drafted into the US military and served heroically. Like me, they were gay. Some were bisexual. Because of bigoted laws at the time, they would have been prosecuted, jailed or worse if anyone discovered their sexuality. Some of the bravest men I know in the military were the gay and bisexuals who served.

PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 69 - Highway Gas Tank Puncture

PAWPAW'S  MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 69 - Highway Gas Tank Puncture

Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!

I miss you guys so much. I hope you find these messages some day. I want you to know that I love you. I never left you. I was no longer allowed to visit you. I hope these messages help you know your Pawpaw and your family better. All my love forever, Pawpaw

Highway Gas Tank Puncture

   In Ohio, we could get our driver’s licenses at age sixteen. I was born on January 12 and my best friend Scott was born on June 12.  We both earned our driver’s licenses in 1979. Scott and I both loved playing tennis and watching professional tennis. Scott’s awesome Dad agreed to let Scott borrow his car so that Scott could drive the two of us three hours south to Columbus, Ohio to attend a professional tennis tournament. This was a big deal!

   We were having a fantastic time driving down the highway and feeling like adults. Suddenly the car in front of us swerved violently. Before we could do anything, Scott and I both saw an entire car exhaust system skidding down the highway toward Scott’s Dad’s car. Scott did a good job of controlling the car as the junk exhaust system went under the car. There was a lot of loud grinding and banging noises before it came out the back end of the car.

   I smelled something odd. Scott looked over at me at the same time that I looked over at him. We both smelled gasoline. Scott looked at the instrument panel and said, “Look at the gas gauge!” I looked over and saw the needle on the gas gauge rapidly dropping from nearly full toward empty.

   Even though there was a lot of traffic on the highway, Scott was able to coast the car off to the berm. We both got out of the car and walked quickly to the back of the car where the last of the gasoline was pouring out onto the hot asphalt. We both crawled under the car. We found a hole in the gas tank that was as big as a baseball. The exhaust pipe we had hit had poked a huge hole in the full gas tank.

   Back in 1979, cell phones had not been invented. We were far from home in a disabled car. Scott and I saw a farmhouse across the highway and across a field. We walked to it and asked if Scott could call his Dad about the broken car. About two hours later, Scott’s Dad arrived. He had called a tow truck too. The tow truck towed the car to a nearby garage where the mechanics began to search for a gas tank to install. Scott’s awesome Dad paid for everything. The mechanic said that he was shocked that the gas tank hadn’t exploded when the exhaust had smashed through it.

   After most of the day at the garage, the car was repaired. We expected Scott’s Dad to tell us to follow him home but he didn’t. He said that he was sorry that we had missed all the fun at our tennis tournament and told us to go ahead and catch the final few hours of the tournament. He wasn’t angry about the crash at all. He said that he was just happy that neither of us had been hurt.

   We were two very lucky sixteen year olds. Scott had managed to control the car at highway speed as we were hit by a huge piece of metal. The gas had not ignited when the exhaust had slammed through the gas tank. And Scott’s Dad was just what both all needed. He was kind and helpful and showed us how to be a good father.

PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 68 - Connor and Bryson in a fish tank!

PAWPAW'S  MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 68 - Connor and Bryson in a fish tank!

Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!

I miss you guys so much. I hope you find these messages some day. I want you to know that I love you. I never left you. I was no longer allowed to visit you. I hope these messages help you know your Pawpaw and your family better. All my love forever, Pawpaw

This photo makes me smile every time I see it. You two came to visit me and Tom. We took you to Cocoa Beach and visited the surf shops. One of them had a huge aquarium. You two crawled into the a tunnel leading to a viewing port for kids inside the fish tank! Being your Pawpaw was a highlight of my life.