Wait - before I get started, I was told - more than once - by some of my family members, that my blog is too long. They just want "the facts" - so, for y'all facts folks, this is for you.
- We're in Atlanta until August 7th
- We went to a family reunion in Charlotte, NC - it was fun.
- Michael reported to Ft. Benning on Sunday August 2nd - it sucked.
- He's there for 8 weeks and then home for a week then to Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri for 14 weeks.
- We're having a baby in February.
Ahem, where was I?
Oh yes, the reunion... lots of fun. Lots of pics were taken - I will upload them tomorrow. It, at times, was very surreal for me and very comfortable at the same time. Loved being around my family and laughing and playing Spades. I still generally suck and nobody wants to be my partner--- not a lot has changed since I was little. That was a tad bittersweet.
Two of my dad's older brothers were there... one is almost 80... the other is older than 80. Very neat to hear family history from them as they shared the expectations and traditions we have in our family in terms of our behavior in society and in the family. I don't remember my grandparents very much on my dad's side, so it was nice to learn more about them. We made some cool connections with other family members. Michael was amazing, as usual. He seriously lights up around my family. To the point that I dont' necessarily worry about him feeling out of place or not mingling... he does a great job with it, and I'll usually find him off somewhere chatting with somebody I don't know. I love it. Truly love seeing the social side of him. It's so attractive and I tell him that.
We left the reunion during the talent show (talk about a talented family of singers and dancers!) to head back to ATL so that we could get to Benning first thing in the morning. Becton, the proud owner of his very own portable DVD player stayed up for the ENTIRE 4 hour drive (11pm - 3am) and then still wanted to stay up and chat once we were home. We threw him in his playpen and crashed in bed, only to get up at 8 am and be back on the road by 9 to pick up Balboa (Mike's buddy from home) outside of Ft. Benning.
We got them to the base and found out we couldn't get on base because the car's registration was expired. I noticed it on Friday when we left for Charlotte, but couldn't do anything about it. So while that was frustrating, we adapted and got the guys onto base via an expensive taxi. Me and baby drove around to kill time until the guys were free. Then we went to dinner and let Michael get a good portion of kisses, hugs and snuggles from Becton before we had to say goodbye.
We've been hanging out at our family's house since leaving Michael. It's not been too hard because he gets a lot of breaks where he can call or text us during the day. it's not as isolated as OCS and Basic Training. I'm happy for that.
Here's an email he sent out. Feel free to contact him with any words of encouragement and your own life updates. [unbreakablemds@hotmail.com]
Subject: Georgia
Well dudes
I'm down here int he sweltering heat and stupid humidity of Georgia . This place is the worst place to be in the winter and now I've experienced, the summer. The smells all bring back bad memories from basic training and OCS (which was at Ft. McClellan only an hour from here). The stairwells reak of sweat and humidity and dirty sweaty butt cracks. Your outside only a few minutes and your body is dripping with sweat. Funny though I think I've kinda accepted that's how it is and I better get used to it and just Embrace the Suck as we say.
I don't have a car so I usually walk and pay for a cab to take us a few miles for $8-9 one way! I'm in D-company of basic officer leaders course, 7 weeks long. This first week doesn't count, its all in -processing and getting equipment issued and processed through paperwork and having briefings getting ready for things to come. I only know a few people here. My buddy from SLC came with me and I ran into a girl who was at OCS with me. Otherwise it's a bunch of new faces, most of them active duty and alot of really young, almost clueless Lts from West Point or Ft. benning OCS and ROTC. I think the youngest is a 20 year old ROTC female. The oldest might be my Buddy Balboa who is a Filipino guy, former infantry. I think he's 41 but no one really knows because his parents records in the Philippines don't match his US records. lol.
Overall looks like it shouldn't be too bad. We get off most of the time at 5 pm and even have weekends free and get to keep our cell phones. We'll be doing various training days including weapons quals: m4, .50 cal, Mk19 (an automatic machine gun thing that fires 40mm grenade shells...etc....and lots of other operations type missions. Oh yeah combatives as well and combat life saver classes and all. Alot more fun than OCS. I know we'll be doing FOB operations and convoy ops as well. The training is pretty much all run by us Lts with some cadre around to give guidance and direction when we need it. It's kinda cool finally getting to a point where I'm not getting yelled at and treated like poop. Though, some of the cadre sergeants here still have an attitude with the young Lts and not so much yell at them/us but talk down to us. Overall those most are really nice.
I think this might be one of the last classes that goes through this as word is after 2009 this course is going away. Which means new Lts only have to do their specific officer branch school: infantry, signal, armor, logistics, engineer (like I'm doing) or whatever.
We'll see how my branch school in Missouri goes. I'll def. need a car out there as it's a bit isolated. Dad, I know you remeber that from first hand experience. Anyhow, don't be afraid to send me a note or call. I'm not supposed to be on facebook, which is why I'm writing this. Oh an dI had a cool show of being near the airfield here and seeing two pairs of F22 Raports take off. It was pretty sick!
I'm going to try and take as many pictures as I can. If they ever get my pay right I can buy a camera. Military can be a slow moving machine an dthey don't seem to ever get your pay right the first time.
I should graduate here Sept 18th and fly home the 19th. Then I have to report to Missouri by Sept 23rd and graduate there Jan 20th. I think that means I'll probably be home for Christmas and hoping Lashawn and baby boy will come out for Thanksgiving and halloween. If any of you get a notion for a trip you are welcome and invited to come visit me! Maybe someone can show me the familiy's old stomping grounds in MO. And you can feel free to share this with anyone in the family or friends. Don't worry about writing letters like the old days. You can email or text me!
All for now. Peace.
-------------------------------
Me and baby head back to Utah on Friday. We're coming back out for Labor Day weekend to spend it with Michael. We'd like to go to the Aquarium. There's also a cool sounding American. I. Am. exhibit chronicling the African American experience - trials and triumphs - that we'll probably go to as well.
One thing I love and miss about the South is so much of the nation and its people's history is here! It's tough at times to see places still named "XYZ Plantation" but it's part of our history and to deny it would be a failure to live in reality. I think of it as an affirmation of the triumph of people in spite of challenges and efforts to control them. Granted, we still have work to do - but it's beautiful that we live in a country where we are free to become better people though we may disagree on the route to get there.
It's important to be thankful for little freedoms and blessings. I'm reminded of that often.
I just got off the phone with Michael for the evening and my nausea is kicking in (completely unrelated to talking to Michael - i've just been nauseated allllllllll day) so I need to go eat something. Will update again this week - hopefully before we leave for home!
p.s.
Becton was AWESOME on the plane ride here. No motion sickness or anything. I'm hoping it continues for the flights home!
1 comment:
I also enjoyed the family reunion. It was good to see you, Michael, and Becton. You guys are such an awesome family and it was fun to watch.
Thanks for keeping us updated and have a safe trip home.
Post a Comment