With age comes a stronger love

To the editor:

Editor R. Joe Sullivan wrote so brilliantly about motion sickness ("Ahoy! Don't call me Ishmael") that I began to feel uncomfortable despite the fact I haven't suffered from this malady for more than 50 years.

There was this girl in Latin class whom I had secretly admired for several years. One day as the phrase "sic transit gloria mundi" was being discussed, my propensity for motion sickness reared its head. The phrase reminded me that on Monday Gloria and I should be riding on a school-bus trip which could make me sick. It didn't. It was wonderful. Gloria and I sat together. From that night on, we dated steadily, leading to marriage, children, grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Following several years of preparation, the Navy decided to switch everyone in my pilot program to the surface fleet. I was assigned to a destroyer escort, which pitched and yawed. The moment we cleared the harbor, I dashed to the rail. My second ship was a destroyer. Seasickness was such a problem that I would do anything to plant my feet on solid ground. I volunteered for postgraduate school in naval government, and the captain appeared happy to rid his ship of the officer who heaved over the rail. I have never been seasick or carsick again.

Gloria has been in the Lutheran Home for seven months. I visit her six days a week. As we both grow older, our love grows stronger.

IRA HUDSON, Mound City, Ill.