Ed joined our family when our son Caleb rescued him from a trash dumpster at the Boston city water supply. Ed was torn of wing and battered from his recent escape form a Chinese restaurant in Boston’s China town. Ed decided to become Caleb’s friend in gratitude for the rescue and as a new high school student in Boston, Caleb found Ed’s help to be of enormous value. Ed was so good at attracting the attentions of young girls so Caleb soon became quite popular. Ed saved Caleb time after time and helped him avoid the many mistakes that could befall a young student in a big city high school, and by telling him of his past mistakes, they got through those rough teenage years.

Ed helped Caleb become a natural leader by showing him the way to help his friends and acquaintances get through High School without dropping out or becoming drug addicts. Leading by example, he showed his fellow students that there was a better way to act without giving up any of the individualism they so craved.

I was so proud at Caleb’s graduation when students I had never met as well as his friends came up to us and thanked us for Caleb and the help he was able to give them during school. They graduated because Caleb and Ed helped them to get through High School, and while I was happy and proud, I knew that it was due to Ed’s involvement in our family more then our leadership and parentage.

After his junior year in High School, Caleb joined the knighthood by becoming a squire in the court of King Richard of Carver Mass, and there was nothing for it but for Ed to follow suit. His apprenticeship was hard for him and many of the common tasks such as the horse grooming required the help of his human companion but Ed showed such spirit and determination that King Richard gladly accepted his service and knighted him along with Caleb. He entered the knighthood and devoted his life to the service of others, but the cost was high and in Ed’s case, irreversible. When he took on the non removable chain mail mantle, he had to give up all of his previous life. He could no longer swim or fly without help but he considered it a perfect exchange. He learned the truth behind the statement “Service before self”. He understood that you have to give up some things before you can achieve your goals.

After High School and another summer in service with King Richard, the two of them convinced the recruiter (Virginia) that they were ready to join the United States Air Force and expand their service circle. Ed and Caleb headed out for basic training in San Antonio, Texas followed by Tech School also in Texas but in a desert part of West Texas called Wichita Falls. Caleb Did fine but Ed was in hell. It was hot, hotter then it had ever been in his entire life. The chain mail shirt took the heat from the sun and stored it so that he never was able to get cooled off. He was not permitted the cooling pool that others could use to beat the heat because the chain mail shirt weighed to much to allow him to swim.

Ed came very close to turning in his title during his time in Texas, but he made it through. Now qualified Ammo troops for the United States Air Force, Ed and Caleb took on the challenge of moving to Germany and learning to live in a foreign land. For the first time Ed was able to see the fruition of his dream. Ed was in Germany. He had joined the knighthood, been to Texas, learned a trade and been accepted into two of the best service organizations in the world. Ed was on his way.

During their time in the Air Force ,Ed and Caleb traveled to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and after a cross-country trip in the USA ended in Phoenix Arizona. As time permits, Ed will reveal details of the many adventures he and Caleb had in each of those locations but that will be another day.