Now the
light at the end of the tunnel is blinding.
Retirement from the Navy is here.
Doug can come home every night from an organized, calm job. We can buy a house close to our children and have family dinners
every Sunday. I can become Donna
Reid.
Just the
facts-I knew the light was blinding. I
didn't realize it had blinded me. The
calm job is in a war country. The home
every night is home every six weeks. The
house close to our children is 1,682 miles away. The new chapter begins on a gravel road...
I must
confess I am backing up a couple months.
I sped away from San Diego
in January with the Navy in my rearview mirror.
However; not much had changed. It
was just me and the giant scaredy cat driving across country. Our first destination was Corpus Christi , Texas
We blew by El Centro with the Blue
Angels soaring and dipping over head. We
coasted by giant cacti in Arizona and smelled
too many dairy cows in New Mexico . We passed helicopters in Texas being towed by a truck advertising
giraffe sales. Really!
Twenty six
hours later we made it to my parents house.
Time to rest and recoup. However
my father had other ideas-chores. I
thought chores after fifty was outlawed.
But there I was climbing up the grapefruit tree to get the last few at
the top.
When the
grueling day of chores was finished. My
sister (who had not helped with chores) and I felt the need to relax. We jumped in her still smelling new SUV and
drove to the Party Barn. We pulled in
the red barn structure. A friendly
gentleman sauntered up to the window and we ordered our liquid
refreshment. It arrived in seconds
hidden in the nondescript paper bag.
Off we raced to relax!
Thus
ending my time in Corpus Christi
