The Lady is a Class Act

**Kid Cossack** · 15th May 08, 01:20 PM

Gents and ladies:

A while back, I saw a deal on ebay for 16 ounce Leatherneck tartan. Says I, "What ho!" There was already a bidder, but the bidder's name looked familiar. I enquired, and sure enough, the other bidder was Barbara Tewksbury!

Well, I didn't want to get into a bidding war, so I contacted her, and we agreed that I'd order the tartan, and forward it to her, where she could take the amount she wanted, and then forward the rest to me.

That part went smoothly.

Along the way, my brother (not biologically) Jared let me talk him into a kilt. I figure, since I was a Marine, and he IS a Marine, what better tartan to start off with than the Leatherneck. I talked with Barb and she said she'd be willing to make such a kilt, and then she commenced negotiations with Jared about his measurements and preferences.

We'd gotten a good deal on the tartan---less than you'd expect to pay for four or five yards, much less eight yards double width. Jared has his kilt now---16 ounce, four yard, box pleated, and a Tewksbury to boot.

Finally I remembered that, gee, maybe I ought to actually PAY Barb for her fine work. I contacted her, and she said she'd call it even, part of her appreciation for US servicemen. Now, she did get some tartan out of the deal as well---but we got a really good price, and the tartan she got was no more than 1/3 of her sewing charge (measured in dollars).

I served four years in the USMC, but I never went anywhere, and I never did anything, and so I rarely feel like I have the right to speak for Marines everywhere. But today I do.

BarbT is not only a marvelously skilled kilt-maker (I mean, she really DID "write the book"), but she is a class act, as well.

I salute her.