Things, Ideas & People . . .

We went to the 12th Annual Veterans Memorial Softball Classic in Belgrade recently, a girls fastpitch all-star tournament featuring players from Class A and AA schools across Montana. This year, we had a special reason to attend—our granddaughter, Addy Bowler from Columbia Falls, was playing. (We also saw Mike and Nancy Lund’s granddaughter, Ava Lund from Belgrade play.)

Each team in the tournament represented a branch of the military. Addy played for the Army team, and Ava was on the Marines team. Other teams represented the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard.

We didn't pick up a tournament program the first day, but as we were leaving, I figured I better grab one—I had an idea for a story about a touching moment that happened at the tournament (maybe next week) and needed a little more information. But as it turns out I got more than I planned for. As I was flipping through the pages...