His World

Finally, a chance to post the events of the past week!

We left Saturday morning, to attend the Surprise 80th Birthday Party of my mom's youngest brother. Such a blast to see cousins, aunts and uncles...and yes the surprise was pulled off beautifully! My cousins certainly did an outstanding job honoring their dad. Happy tears flowed in abundance! Fun memories were made.

Sunday morning was an early wake-up to be on the road and travel four hours to Wright-Patterson. Woo-Hoo! We met up with John by noon and went to lunch. John then drove us around the base, showing us the gorgeous golf courses, his office building, the lake and the ponds he wants to fish. Baffling bit of information: the total area of Wright-Patt is 11.8 sq. miles ~ the total area of John's hometown is 3.9 sq. miles! Wright-Patt is so rich in history and is the home of the largest and oldest military aviation museum. We walked the entire Air Force Museum which consists of three hangars. Unfortunately, we did not have too much time to spend. I suppose it means we must go back! John's dorm was extremely nice! My husband was in awe, even driving home on Monday he kept repeating how he could not get over the dorm. You see, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1975...military life was a wee bit different back in "those days". Back to 2008, John has his own bedroom with a private bathroom (yes it does have a bathtub, therefore it is not a latrine). There are four bedrooms off the common area. The common area consists of a full kitchen with a full size refrigerator, a microwave and a dishwasher (yep, you read that word correctly). They have a sofa along with a kitchen table and chairs. Very nice!
Dinner was an all you can eat Chinese Buffet, John's choice of course! Just the little things of talking with him, watching him interact with his dorm-mates, sharing a meal... one mom called it "skin time". Such a great way to describe time spent that is not a phone call or e-mail.


And then it was time to say "see ya later". Oh my gosh, the worst moments as a mom. The truth is, these moments just don't get any easier with time. My oldest son enlisted in the USAF when he was 17 in 1999. As though it was yesterday, I remember leaving him at the hotel, the night before he departed for Lackland AFB for Basic. My youngest daughter was with me, and we had to pull off of 495 (the beltway for the non-DCers) at least twice...I could not stop crying! As I have mentioned before...they are my vegetable soup emotions: pride, sadness of a closed chapter, anxiety, happiness, you name it. Here it is nine years later, I have to give my son a see-ya hug and the tears roll. He asked me at the airport one recent trip, if I'll ever not cry..my answer "do you really want me to?" It's a mom thing! "A mother's love is instinctual, unconditional, and forever." Truly, it is that simple! I miss my sons. Saying that I need to add, I would not want either of them on any other road, except the road which lead to their happiness and success. So the mom tears will roll as needed!

Monday morning it was homeward bound! Fortunately, we had incredible driving weather! Eight hours later, back in our world. Tuesday, my youngest daughter (the mother-to-be of my third grandchild) and my son-in-law came over to spend the night. I am grand-puppy sitting while they spend almost a week in Salt Lake City visiting my oldest son. It was an early wake up to get them to the airport on Wednesday morning. They are having a good time! Thursday was spent with my two grandgirls, while my oldest daughter had three wisdom teeth extracted! Ugh! My girl is hurting, but her husband is such a good guy and he treats her extremely well! It is always an amazing experience to spend time with my daughters' daughters. They take me back thirty years to when she was little, as though it was last week! How fast time flies. Don't blink, time goes by faster than you think.

So there it is... my son's world. I was blessed to be able to share it for a few hours.

John, I do love you so!