“Mom, did you bring the EOD patch?” Matty asked, his voice quick and excited.

“The kids at my table said parents only show up if they’ve got real slides to show.”

“I’ve got the patch, Matty,” I said.

I sat down across from him and rubbed the polished brass buckle on my service uniform belt with my thumb.

The white Little Creek duty schedule lay on the table between his yellow marker and a plastic cup of milk.

Matty bent over his poster board, carefully drawing a navy-blue ship with two bright yellow stars above the radar mast.