Update: Our Lives In Reverse

Well, I don't mention too much about The Hubs or our personal lives as of late because nothing much has been interesting. At least I don't think so.

But he finally PCS'd out of Ft. Stewart and moved cross country to Ft. Bliss.  But before he left, they gave him this to give to me.

Isn't that nice? Only in the military would a wife get an award that didn't involve having to put on panty hose and walking up a runway to be in some Mrs. USA beauty pageant. That means they like us wives to be "doers," which is fine by me. I can't even remember the last time I wore panty hose. After over 25 years of marriage, no one gave me a wife award in our civilian life.  So I do appreciate it very much.

The other event is our son took time off of work to fly out to Georgia and help drive The Hubs cross country. They had such a good time. Father/son roadtrips are the best. Well, any roadtrip is good!  Quite honestly, I think this might have been December, or maybe it was in November. Yes, I am that late. I ascribe it to a case of time slip and won't own up to middle page mind slip.  So here's a picture of him on the road. Literally.

Then Christmas, and all that. The last thing I'll post is just 2 weeks ago, I flew to El Paso to watch the change of command ceremony at Ft. Bliss. He has taken the reins of the 745th FST. It's very exciting for him --it's sort of like running his own business again, only this time with a larger staff, lots of medical equipment, a motorpool, and well, yes, you know...guns and stuff. I met his team of medics, administrators, surgery techs and nurses. What an incredible group. They will all do very well, and much much later, I am certain they will go on to stellar civilian careers. I also met the commander's wife, who is a real sparkplug. I do like her, and she's not one of those who wears her husband's rank. No, not at all!  I was relieved.

After all, I had run across in our civilian career plenty of doctor's wives who had that old veneer of entitlement. In fact there was one, who used to do the schedule for all the surgeons in the region. She was a bit much, and even our staff would make comments after she had called demanding our requests for days off and on. Anyway, they used to prank her, and pretend they were a different person each time she called. FYI, I was very careful not to let patients know I was "the wife." The reason being is that I was in charge of contracting, administration, and also dealing with the toughest (noncompliant) patients. Sometimes I had to give an extra shove, and there was more than one who went to complain to the hubs about "that awful person in the back office." I think they wanted me fired. That was fine by me, and several times I tried to fire myself!

As far as my role: two years ago, I was on tour with the film Restrepo. I was with CSM LaMonta Caldwell and Tim Hetherington. CSM Caldwell very firmly outlined my role as an Army officer's wife. I figured it out: helpful but not pushy; supportive but not intrusive; encouraging but not nagging. I won't be there too much because I still work here in Los Angeles, and we also have this house which really is a nest egg. Unlike other people in the military, we don't have a pension because we came in this so late in our civilian life. So yes, I must keep working and so does the Hubs. Our finances are much, much different but I'm grateful The Hubs is in a position where his skills are much needed and appreciated.  And I'm also forever grateful for what Laura, Tim, and Sebastian Junger did for me giving me a start in films.

That's all for now. Do me a favor and stop by to say hello to my friend, Empress Bee. She's doing okay, and I don't think the loss of Sarge has hit her yet.  Well, maybe it won't all the way. Sarge was a huge presence, and I think he will always be with us.   His funeral is this Friday. If you could go outside that day, and take a walk and look up at the sky and see all the beauty, I think that would be nice.