...is to be a Democrat
Is to be a Terrorist
To the United States of America"
Rant/venting on the other side...
I was driving behind a beat up truck for almost 20 minutes staring at his bumper stickers:
"Save American Lives
NUKE The Middle East"
And last, but not least:
"Support Local Heroes" with many flag decals.
And usually when I listen to Eisley, I have a blast singing along in my car, in my own little world. I honestly teared up while driving behind this guy.
It's been...an interesting couple of days. Seeing that truck, along with seeing my cousin who got a "72" to come up from FL for the weekend, and hearing some news about my brother who's down in Parris Island, I've sort of been on edge.
My cousin graduated from boot camp a couple months ago. He got this weekend to come up and see his family, hang out with some friends, and work on his car. He says he loves it down in FL, but I've been dealing with a knot in my stomach since I heard he had signed up for the Marines. I'm proud of him, but more than worried.
Soon after my brother, Steve, dropped a bomb in my family's lap saying he had decided to join, too. He's been talking about joining the Marines since he was young, and almost joined when he was fresh out of high school. I remember sitting at my Nana and Grampy's house watching him read these huge WWII history books in his little lap. But this past fall, he caught my Mom, Dad, and I all together in the house, handed us a folder from a recruiter, and said he wanted to sign up. He had given it a lot of thought, was sick of his job that he was entirely too smart for, and had made a decision.
Things moved quickly. He started running with the Marines on Saturdays to get in shape, was working out during the week, and changed his eating. He even quit his job to work out as much as he could. We'd never seen him this serious about anything before. He was planning to leave for boot camp in December.
One Saturday he was working out with the Marines, and while playing basketball, fell and broke his foot. Without a job, and health insurance, he had to apply for MassHealth. A friend who worked at the hospital here helped him out. He had to have surgery, physical therapy, and it was months before he could run on it again. He was devastated, and we were too. Part of me was thrilled because I knew the longer things were delayed, and the longer it took his to get into boot camp, finish, and get through all of his training, the smaller the chance he'd be shipped off to Iraq. It was selfish of me, I know, but I'm only human. It made me feel better that my Mom was thinking the same thing.
Months went by, and we knew how upset he was. The winter months were really rough on the family because he so depressed with where he was. But once again, he started working out by himself, and with the Marines on the weekends. He dropped about 25lbs in a little over a month. And once again we were astonished at how much effort he was putting into it.
Well, he left April 9th, the day after Easter. I've never been so proud of anyone or anything than when he stood and took the oath. He's been doing well, too. In the letters we got, he told us he missed home and everyone, but loves it down there.
He was very sick (along with five or six other guys in his platoon) and got behind the others. We just found out that he was sent to PCP (I don't know the real name, but everyone calls it the Pork Chop Platoon.) we received a letter where he was really bummed out about it. It was the first negative letter we've gotten. Apparently he was short one crunch in a test, and got sent there. Luckily, my father got a call from him the day we got the letter, and he was much better than he been when he wrote it. My Dad said he sounded great, a little hoarse, but great. He was so excited to work hard do what he needed to do to graduate as soon as possible. We're told he should graduate some time in July.
And honestly, once again, I felt a little relief that he was pushed back a couple weeks. It's terrible, but I can't help wishing he'd take as long as possible before he's finished training.
The longer he stays there, the longer the Democrats have to get their act together and start to end this thing. As proud as I am of my brother and my cousin, I'd rather not be celebrating them as Veteran's the way we celebrate my Grampy.
And as much as I know I'm a lot more liberal than the rest of my family, I know that we have our two men in mind. No matter what views we don't share on the government, we both want them to be safe. And I think that's what has kept of together this past year.