Moments later, the entire proverbial monstrous regiment of women descended upon me and the bed, which fortunately seemed to be rather sizeable one, po...sitively groaned under the weight of a half dozen or so young, and not-so, ladies, each frantically demanding to know how I felt, and if I was feeling alright. Unfortunately, all of these delicious female shapes were clothed, but they were all genuinely happy to see me anyway.Someone brought me a cup with coffee in it and several pairs of hands. She stopped in the office for some literature for her so who was interested in possibly joining. Anyway she and I were chatting. I was about 40 then and had 18 years of service. We would talk and she left and said thanks for the info. About a week later she stopped by again and we resumed our conversations and then she made small talk about the ribbons and badges on my Class B uniform. She then shocked me by saying she really liked someone in uniform and it was so nice to have someone to talk. Rosie was taken into care at the age of five. She was not told the cause of her mother's death but she resented the fact that she had died without a thought for Rosie. She also resented her foster parents whom she considered to be bossy and no fun. They did not allow her to go out and play on the street with the other children as her mother had done. Her foster-mother's friends did not give her sweets and tickle her bare legs. They were as stuffy as her foster-mother.Her first foster-parents. Something bad had happened but Kevin couldn't figure out what or why. His mother's back was to him and she seemed to be sleeping. When he touched her shoulder, she jumped and almost screamed."Kevin," Kathy said with relief, "you're alright." Her eyes were wet with tears as she turned and wrapped her free arm around her son. "I thought you were going to die." I'm fine, I think," Kevin said as he hugged his mother with his free arm, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. He reached back to feel.