angela146
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2003
- Posts
- 1,347
This was brought to mind by a news story I read about Frank Buckles, the last surviving US Veteran of WWI.
Those "Last Man's Clubs" or "Tontines" seem kind of sad. A group of soldiers (or other comrades) get together and buy a bottle of Cognac, to be drunk by the last survivor as a toast to all who went before.
I've seen gatherings of veterans groups, some with a couple of hundred members, some with as few as half a dozen, with the bottle sitting on the head table or in a display case in the corner of the meeting place. I'm always reminded that only one of those guys will ever taste the brandy.
It's usually "the kid", the guy who enlisted at age fifteen near the end of the war and he's now over a hundred. The bottle ends up being a reminder that all of the buddies he served with are now gone.
May I suggest that if you decide to start one of these things, you buy a few *cases* of the same vintage of Cognac... Meet once a year, and each year *including the first year* uncork a bottle. Drink a toast every year to all those who have departed.
Even that first year there will be some to whom the toast will be drunk: those who fell during the war itself, or - for the high-school class - that kid who never made it to graduation.
The first couple of decades, everybody will get a drop or two (if they all show up). As time goes on, fewer and fewer will be left and there will be more cognac in the glass, reminding all who remain of the growing number of departed.
When there are four guys left, they may start to share some with the wives, children and grandchildren who have been attending all these years.
Sure, designate a "last bottle" that will be drunk by the last man, but by that time, he *and his buddies* will have shared an annual toast all their lives. Everyone who was there the first year *or any year* will have had a taste of the wine.
The last man will have shared the spoils with his buddies over the years, instead of feeling guilty that he is the only one to drink.
Then, after the last man is gone, the widows, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc. will gather to remember the old men, drinking the old wine while it lasts.
Those "Last Man's Clubs" or "Tontines" seem kind of sad. A group of soldiers (or other comrades) get together and buy a bottle of Cognac, to be drunk by the last survivor as a toast to all who went before.
I've seen gatherings of veterans groups, some with a couple of hundred members, some with as few as half a dozen, with the bottle sitting on the head table or in a display case in the corner of the meeting place. I'm always reminded that only one of those guys will ever taste the brandy.
It's usually "the kid", the guy who enlisted at age fifteen near the end of the war and he's now over a hundred. The bottle ends up being a reminder that all of the buddies he served with are now gone.
May I suggest that if you decide to start one of these things, you buy a few *cases* of the same vintage of Cognac... Meet once a year, and each year *including the first year* uncork a bottle. Drink a toast every year to all those who have departed.
Even that first year there will be some to whom the toast will be drunk: those who fell during the war itself, or - for the high-school class - that kid who never made it to graduation.
The first couple of decades, everybody will get a drop or two (if they all show up). As time goes on, fewer and fewer will be left and there will be more cognac in the glass, reminding all who remain of the growing number of departed.
When there are four guys left, they may start to share some with the wives, children and grandchildren who have been attending all these years.
Sure, designate a "last bottle" that will be drunk by the last man, but by that time, he *and his buddies* will have shared an annual toast all their lives. Everyone who was there the first year *or any year* will have had a taste of the wine.
The last man will have shared the spoils with his buddies over the years, instead of feeling guilty that he is the only one to drink.
Then, after the last man is gone, the widows, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren etc. will gather to remember the old men, drinking the old wine while it lasts.
