Entry Four

This now reminds me of a few big choices I’ve made in my life.  I always hated school and never knew what I really wanted to do when I grew up.  I recall on graduation night though that I told myself I wanted to work in the Travel Industry someday.  4 years later, I attended a private college (McConnell) in downtown Minneapolis & became a Travel Agent for Hobbit Travel.  I don’t know why I waited so long but now I believe it was all divine timing.  Not even a year later is when I wanted to join the military.  My best friend at that time, Jeremy, talked me into it. He had a lot of family in the military and being a Tom-Boy, I was a big fan of airplanes.  I fell in love with the SR-71 Blackbird, which was on display at a local museum.  So I went to the Air Force recruiter in Crystal, MN.  They weren’t in at the time but the Navy Recruiter who worked next door was.  I had no idea what I was doing, all I said is that I want to see a jet for my first time.  Oh my god! Who in the hell just signs up for the military in a matter of a few days and especially with no knowledge of what to expect at all???  I signed up and left one month later, just like that.  The hardest part was telling my family. We had no history of Veterans (except my paternal grandfather who had long been passed away) and at that time, I was 22 years old.  I had never once spoke of the military or dreamed of it in any way.  I remember the day I left for boot-camp.  Saddest day for the longest time.  I had lived with my grandparents and when my recruiter, Jack Morgan, came to pick me up at 5am, I went downstairs from my room, to say good-bye. My grandpa cried so hard, he couldn’t even say the word bye.  Being that it was November, my grandpa had always decorated the yard for Christmas (like Clark Griswold), before the ground froze.  As we pulled out of the driveway, he flipped the Christmas lights on for me and that set the tone of me crying all the way to Chicago.  It was a very strange day.  They pile a bunch of us at the MEPS station and even though I don’t recall too many exact details from that day, I remember that we didn’t leave the airport until late at night and that had sucked sitting around waiting and not knowing what’s going on.  We all know “hurry up and wait”…lol, right? 

Throughout boot-camp, I was assigned as the Ships “Yeoman” & that allowed me to be independent and run a lot of errands.  It was pretty smooth sailing for me…no pun intended.  I recall just knowing that I was numb to the fact that I was away from home and in a very different culture.  I knew that I was meant to be there and I felt guided and comfortable.

Hmmm…there’s that word again, guided.