One Sunday morning in September of 2017 I was enjoying a peaceful beginning of the day watching CBS Sunday Morning.  With the kids off at Sunday school it was my one respite in the week.  Steve Hartman’s contributions to the magazine television program are always my favorites and inevitably a tearjerker.  This Sunday morning’s story, however, changed my life.  The story was called “A life changing letter, and a new friend.” The story was about a 90-year-old woman, alone and lonely, who needed a friend and wrote to her neighbor who lived two doors down and across the street. She asked her if she would be her friend. The story touched me, and I realized how life sometimes leads us down a path of loneliness due to loss and distant loved ones.  My children, Jefferson and Grace, did not even have the chance to enter the house that day before I had pulled out my phone and I was showing them Steve Hartman’s story.  I said to them, you know Larry is sitting on his porch alone, two doors down and across the street.  Why don’t you go and say hi?  You know he is a World War II veteran, I reminded them.  Wouldn’t that be a nice thing to do?  So that is what they did – they walked up the street two doors and said hi and it has changed our lives.  Together we put together his story and we posted it on YouTube, so his contributions as a member of the greatest generation would not be forgotten.  And, since that September day Larry has been a part of our lives – weekly coffee cakes, holiday dinners, trips to his favorite restaurant, and an occasional soup or stew.  Last November he even visited us here at NYMA, enjoying the opportunity to talk with the cadets, eat lunch with them in the mess hall, and we got to surprise him by singing happy birthday, sharing a cake, and of course 96 push-ups.  In March 2020, however, everything came to a halt.  No more visits, trips out for lunch stopped, coffee cakes had to be left on the porch after quickly scampering away.  As his 97th birthday approached I had to figure out some way to make him feel special, so I approached our cadet leadership and asked – what about a parade to Larry’s?  The answer was absolute and astounding – YES!  Cornwall-on-Hudson’s police department likewise said yes and on November 18th offered us an escort to surprise Larry for his birthday.  With a cake, card, and balloons we headed down Academy Avenue to Larry’s house, 1.5 miles away.  Jolin and John traded turns singing the cadence as Cornwall residents stepped out of their homes to see what was happening.  As we turned the corner on Cornwall Avenue, I could see a small group had assembled outside Larry’s yard.  Not wanting him to miss any of the surprise I telephoned him and asked if he would step out onto his porch.  With eyes of joy, he saw the Corps of Cadets had come to celebrate his birthday.  After singing happy birthday, Farzan, John, Nargiza, and Aristotle did push-ups, and we gave him the cake, balloons, and a card signed by each cadet.  The day was chilly – in the 30s but we left Larry’s warm in the pleasure of making a difference and bringing happiness in a closed and isolated COVID-19 world.  Walking back to NYMA I was so proud of the cadets – I reflected on the impact they had made — they are the greatest kids, and I must say, from my perspective, quite possibly the next greatest generation.  Next year, I hope a pray Larry can return to NYMA to celebrate his 98th birthday, for he has not only changed my life, but I think, too, touched the lives of all of us at the New York Military Academy with the warmth and love that comes with friendship.