Ok...so we didn't sleep on the gynormous sectional, we ended up crawling into the big comfy bed. Just me and Emma. She of course doesn't like to cuddle, she wants to be up there with you, but to snuggle right up against you is not her thing. We had our breakfast and spent the morning catching up with friends.
My childhood friend Kelly was first on the list. They got good news this week. Their son, Bobby who is in the Navy is headed home from his first deployment! This story is relavent because, he was deployed to the exact same base and just a few days apart as Chelsea. They hadn't seen each other since they were probably 4 or 5. There was a time, when due to life's crazy circumstances that Kelly and I spend a lot of time together. There wasn't a weekend for about 3 years that we weren't together. Our children became close. My oldest Alex, laughed when I told him they were on the same base and were planning on trying to meet at the USO tent. "Mom, that's just weird! I remember all those weekends together and I even remember the four of us being allowed to hop in the bathtub together to play and get clean." I had forgotten that. While rummaging through pictures of them, I found this picture taken shortly after that time. They are all so grown up now. I wonder if the two of them were old enough to remember that time and if knowing they played together in the tub was a little weird or was in the back of their minds when they met at the USO tent? Especially now that they are all grown up and thousands of miles away from home fighting the same war on the same base?
Do you remember those days? When innocence wasn't lost and nobody looked at how you parented with skeptical eye? I do. Growing up we would take our vacations to WV and so would my Aunt Judy and Uncle Ken. Spending quality time with family all jammed into a small two bedroom house was always the best part of the summer. I Google'd their address today, and found this map picture. I remember that door very well!
There are countless pictures of all of us sitting on the steps, and most of them are in front of and on top of that rock wall that was strategically placed against the driveway. I remember very well the purple phlox that grew on the fence side and the simply gorgeous bearded iris's that grew along that wall. For many years we were forbidden to play on the wall, because we might get hurt. That never really stopped us, the minute they left us alone outside, we were on the wall, contemplating a new adventurous jump or attempting a handstand off of it. The vacations were always short, but, they seemed endless to us. Usually, shortly after they would start we would whine and complain about the heat, and Poppaw bought us a swimming pool. Whine a little about being totally bored, we got a sand box. I remember summers of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, ice cream floats, staying off the back porch steps, NEVER going past the grapevine in the backyard and wandering down the hill to the creek, and the biggest most fragrant Lilac bush as a secret fort. And the most favorite memory all of us grandkids have is walking out to the candy store. It was a tiny little mart, that sold milk, pop, cigarettes, and they stocked a TON of candy!!! One whole dollar would get you a whole brown paper sac full! Being grown up now, I understand why we did it. Learn the value of a dollar, get some exercise, get us out from under the grandparents feet, and temporarily relieve the boredom. Honestly, we were all in it for the candy!
Being honest I have to tell you, we DID take baths together! It was the seventies and everybody was conserving....electric, and water. The grown ups in our lives were planning for our future. I still can't walk out of a room and leave the light on without hearing my grandparents say, "That electricity costs money, if you can't pay for it, turn it off." Conserving energy was a huge deal back then.
So today I reminisced.....knowing Bobby is coming home sparked it. Isn't it funny how we connect events in our lives with memories? I am happy for Bobby and his family. I have prayed for him every night, and because he is still an active Navy man, I will continue to do so. Having him home on American soil is reassuring.
Now, I must wait, as my Airmen put it, 100 plus days for her to come home. We are half way through her deployment. God continue to protect her and bring her home to me safe and sound.....
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