If their sons — sailors on an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea — had not been so far away, Lynn Edgar and Vonzella Coates would never have had a chance to be so close.

        The two women — Mrs. Edgar from Mount Washington and Mrs. Coates fromAvondale — did not know each other until the noon hour Friday, when they sat next to each other at a table in Fountain Square, each clutching a photo of her son in his Navy uniform.

        They were there for a noontime ceremony honoring men and women in the armed forces, hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Charlie Luken.

        Within minutes of striking up a conversation, the two women realized that their sons — Seaman Michael Rose and Seaman Lavarr Coates — were shipmates on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that has been part of the initial strikes against targets in Afghanistan.

        “We are going to be the best of friends,” Mrs. Edgar said, holding the hand of the Avondale woman. “We share so much.”

        Mrs. Coates clutched a photo of her son with his girlfriend, Daisy Jackson, who is also a sailor on the Roosevelt.

        “I am so proud of both of them,” she said.

        So, too, is Mrs. Coates' mother, Frances Bonner, who sat with the two mothers Friday wearing the USS Theodore Roosevelt T-shirt her grandson had given her.

        Mrs. Edgar said she has been receiving e-mail from her son regularly, “so I know he is safe and well.”

        Mrs. Coates does not have a computer, so her new friend from Mount Washington told her she could come to her home and the two of them would try to reach Seaman Coates by e-mail.

        “I'm so glad I came today,” Mrs. Edgar said. “I have a wonderful new friend.”

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