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All I Need is Purple (Day 74)
11 years ago
Life drags on, day after day. Another Friday is here and I've earned a higher phase since I last posted, receiving my 5+ card two Friday nights ago. It didn't involve too much work, just making my room clean and neat as possible, memorizing some long creeds, and taking another written test. It lets me sleep in late on the weekends and leave base as early as 6 AM. I earned it solely for the purpose of spending as much time with Arlo as possible when he visits next. I find reminders of him everywhere--and I have found it amazing this week, the little signs I find.
A couple of weeks ago our instructor was making coffee for our sleepy students, and I'd wished I had brought one of my many mugs with me from home. He offered free ones that had been left there a long time ago. He brought out a few used coffee mugs, some used, but one was new and shiny. It was a tall purple shiny metal one with a plastic lid, with the label sticker still on the side. I immediately took it, as Arlo love purple so much. So now I tote this to class some days and drink from it and think of him. Then, earlier this week, after getting a surprise move to a new room, I lost all of my pencils (I found them yesterday) and I arrived at class with no pencil. I happened to see a purple mechanical pencil on the floor, just in time! He also loves plants like I do, and is especially fond of honey locust trees, which are in full bloom (and wonderful aroma) this time of year. Our morning runs take us down a road lined with them, and I become intoxicated by their smell, and they are lovely to look at too. While it brings me great cheer, I also become overcome with that blue feeling of what I'm missing every day in my life. It's not only Arlo I'm missing, it's also my family. It's those familiar places I used to go, and all of the great friends in my life, that I left far behind. I just keep in mind with each passing day, that I'm another day closer, and never going to do this again. 74 days, and I'll be driving again, back in Kentucky, visiting whomever I wish on the weekends, taking vacations, trips, having my own home, and I'll be married for the first time in my life, and there will be no turning back. I just have to finish surviving here, but I just never know what to expect. Things are always changing here, but I am encouraged every Thursday as I watch guys I've seen for many weeks now, packing up and leaving. Soon, it will be my turn.
A couple of weeks ago our instructor was making coffee for our sleepy students, and I'd wished I had brought one of my many mugs with me from home. He offered free ones that had been left there a long time ago. He brought out a few used coffee mugs, some used, but one was new and shiny. It was a tall purple shiny metal one with a plastic lid, with the label sticker still on the side. I immediately took it, as Arlo love purple so much. So now I tote this to class some days and drink from it and think of him. Then, earlier this week, after getting a surprise move to a new room, I lost all of my pencils (I found them yesterday) and I arrived at class with no pencil. I happened to see a purple mechanical pencil on the floor, just in time! He also loves plants like I do, and is especially fond of honey locust trees, which are in full bloom (and wonderful aroma) this time of year. Our morning runs take us down a road lined with them, and I become intoxicated by their smell, and they are lovely to look at too. While it brings me great cheer, I also become overcome with that blue feeling of what I'm missing every day in my life. It's not only Arlo I'm missing, it's also my family. It's those familiar places I used to go, and all of the great friends in my life, that I left far behind. I just keep in mind with each passing day, that I'm another day closer, and never going to do this again. 74 days, and I'll be driving again, back in Kentucky, visiting whomever I wish on the weekends, taking vacations, trips, having my own home, and I'll be married for the first time in my life, and there will be no turning back. I just have to finish surviving here, but I just never know what to expect. Things are always changing here, but I am encouraged every Thursday as I watch guys I've seen for many weeks now, packing up and leaving. Soon, it will be my turn.
