Tags
Basic training, Cracker Barrel, Fort Benning, Georgia, Infantry, letters, military, National Guard, priorities, soldier, summer, travel
I like to leave.
Seriously. I enjoy packing my suitcase. I do it with zeal and precision. (“Precision” meaning I use precisely each and every square inch of space available to me. “Zeal” meaning I pack way too much.)
I enjoy buying batteries for the camera. (The hard part is remembering to use it.)
And, I enjoy driving. Especially now that I’m old enough to make all those Interstate miles my own. (I also have an affinity for seedy roadside attractions and other rural oddities. Better have patience if you travel with me.)
Having said all that, I’m obviously going somewhere. That, or I just woke up screaming at 12:05AM because my blog was lacking a post about travel and I had to get up and write it. Yeah, right.
I’m actually leaving for Fort Benning, Georgia tomorrow evening. I’m going to watch my boyfriend graduate from Basic training. Large amounts of celebration are in order.
Wait… boyfriend?
Yes. Somewhere over the course of the many moons Tweedy Blues has been neglected, I developed a boyfriend. (I’m not used to it yet – that’s why I just made him sound like a case of whooping cough or perhaps a roll of film. Developed him. Haha.)
Anyway, he just completed nine weeks of Basic training at Fort Benning, AKA Sand Hill, AKA the hottest, most miserable place a guy could spend his summer. He’s with the Army National Guard, Infantry division. Going to college on an ROTC scholarship once he gets this behind him.
He’s been gone since May 25th. We’ve written a lot of letters. You wouldn’t believe how many stamps I’ve bought in the last three months. And they say people don’t do that anymore!
It’s old-fashioned… it’s outdated… it’s gone the way of the buffalo and the Five & Dime, et cetera.
Ha! Don’t you people know there’s a war on?
Letters are wonderful. If I’ve written as many as I have with a boyfriend in Basic training, imagine all those women whose husbands are overseas right now, serving tours of active duty.
Imagine their situations.
They’ve got kids. Or maybe she’s pregnant, and there are nights when she misses him so bad it almost kills her. Not to mention the worry. You know it must be endless.
If anything, I know the past nine weeks have given me a better perspective on what our service men and women go through to keep us free. But, they’re not alone. For each soldier there are several other people he carries with him. Everywhere he goes and everything he does, he takes a small crowd of his family and friends. These are his advocates, his representatives, his lifeline. They are devoted to writing him a letter every day. To keeping him in their prayers at night.
That means that no matter what, it’s not just him. He’s not alone. And I know that makes all the difference.
Oh, I almost forgot. Kaleb has been raving about Cracker Barrel in all his recent letters. Suffice to say we’ll be eating there on his 36 hour leave. It’s my favorite restaurant and I always made him take me there when we went out. Now he’s dying for a glass of sweet tea and a plate of chicken and dumplings.
Lord, but I sure do know how to pick ‘em.
