Several weeks ago when Pam and I received an invitation to attend Tammy Shaw’s August 3rd retirement ceremony in Florida, I suggested to Pam “Let’s go.” Ever the pragmatist, Pam responded with “No one in their right mind goes to Florida in August.” Ever the smart ass Ridge boy, I responded “Who said I’m in my right mind? Besides, hot as it has been here lately, it’s probably cooler in Florida than it is here!”
Turns out that we managed to make it to Eglin AF Base for Tammy’s retirement in what was one of the nicest retirement ceremonies I have ever attended. (Note – In my prior life working at Pax River one of my “collateral duties” was assisting in organizing retirement/Change of Command ceremonies held in the HQ’s building that I managed. Bottom line – I witnessed and attended enough of these ceremonies in my time to know and appreciate a special one as opposed to a mail-it-in one. Trust me when I tell you that Tammy’s was a good one.
Another quick aside here: I started to write just now “Second only to my retirement, Tammy’s was the best one I have ever attended.” But then I remembered that my retirement “ceremony” consisted of my former bosses Frank Faust and Gary Kurtz surprising me at Buzzy’s Country Store one afternoon a few weeks after I had officially retired and presenting me with some awards, documents and nice comments. Funny, but I had forgotten all about that until just now and I found the one and only blurry photo someone took commemorating the occasion.
But back to Tammy’s ceremony, in addition to her immediate family of husband Brian, son Hunter and daughter Harley, Tammy had her Mom and two brothers in attendance. Extended family attendees included several of us, whom in her remarks, she recognized as her “Redneck Maryland family.” She also had many other extended family, friends and coworkers there including a former boss who was her keynote speaker. (To read his funny bio that Tammy wrote on his behalf swing by Buzzy’s sometime and I’ll pass it along to you. Best bio ever.)
Here is Tammy’s official bio:
Impressive career from an impressive lady. Couple photos I took at the ceremony of Tammy and her son Hunter before she was piped over:
I included this one because it is a nice photo of Brian, Tammy, Darline and Greg Madjeski. As for the redneck photobombing it, probably should have cropped him out.
While not exactly a retirement song per se, this tune resonated with me because once I left Pax River after working there almost 40 years, “I’m never coming back” is the refrain that ran thru my mind. Been back there a couple times to play golf with Brady, but that’s about it. I don’t miss anything about it. In fact, driving around Eglin merely confirmed for me that being on a military base tends to bring me down to the point that I can’t wait to get off of them. Don’t know why that is, but I’m too old to do anything about it now nor do I want to. Just know that I’m never going back.