Thought I'd try something new for a change. I stole this from my friend Bri's blog (http://mylifeasbrianne.blogspot.com) and thought it would be fun. I'm not sure what the future holds for the boy and me, but I do know a few things. So here we go...
1. You know the best kinds of weekends are the ones where you do nothing.
2. You’re as competitive as I am and never let me win anything (and I love you for it).
3. You always smell great.
4. When you set your mind on something, I know there’s no doubt you will attain it.
5. You love to learn.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Best Horse In the World
I found a couple places to horseback ride in the Monterey area and am hoping I can get onto a horse soon. JC and I were supposed to go to a San Francisco Giants-Mets game on my birthday next weekend, but I really want to go riding. We'll see. I miss being around horses so much. The horse that is in all those pictures in my last post is a horse that came to the ranch during my first winter out there. The ranch buys all its horses from auction and they often come to the ranch in less than perfect conditions. This horse, who I named Orangejello or Jello for short, was a real headcase. He clearly had suffered a pretty serious case of neglect, was pretty skinny and had the permanent mark of a halter on his head and was very head shy (did not like his head or ears touched at all). We think someone just put the halter on and left him out there. It kills me the way some people treat animals.
Anyway, when spring finally arrives at the Ranch there is sooo much stuff to do. We have to fix fence, clear trail, fix saddles, shoe and vaccinate the horses and all that. Well, I will never forget when Jello became my horse. On shoeing day, we have to tie all the horses up along the fenceline inside the corral. Jello untied himself about 4 times and was causing all kinds of trouble. By the end of the day they just had to turn him loose in the round pen. My boss pointed at him and just asked, “you want him?” Now how it works at the Ranch is the wranglers always end up with all the horses we can’t put guests on. Most of the “best of the worst” are already taken by the veteran wranglers. I wasn’t about to turn away what looked like a perfectly sound and athletic-looking horse.
So I took on Jello as my horse for the summer. He had a host of problems aside from his ability to untie himself and his issues with having his head and ears touched. He was a HUGE scaredy cat.
He’d never seen buffalo or elk before (which we see ALL the time on rides). He’d never crossed water, never opened or closed a gate before, never been ridden bareback, never swam in the water. He was afraid of everything! Scary looking rocks, scary looking logs, scary looking holes in the ground. He was a serious head case. My kids (the teenagers I took out) took to calling him “Ronald” (like Ron Weasley from Harry Potter) ‘cos he was a redhead and a big scaredy cat. I just loved him to death though! I spent HOURS working with him on my lunch break, after work, on my day off. By the end of 2 years I turned him into a helluva trail horse and was so sad to leave him.
I got to reunite with him briefly in 2008 on a drive cross-country and then again last year when I was out in Wyoming for my sister’s wedding. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever saw him and, sadly, the last time I ever will. He had some issues with his new rider last summer and had a couple accidents and the Ranch deemed him a ‘dangerous horse’ and ‘liability’. So they sold him : ( . It makes me unbelievably sad.
He taught me how to be a better rider and I’m so proud of what a great trail horse I turned him into. I know it’s silly, but I wanted to buy him one day. I hope he’s alive and happy wherever he is and has a new owner who is as patient with him as I was and appreciates what an awesome horse he is. He is a big scaredy cat, but if you build up a relationship with him he will do WHATEVER you ask him to. And believe me on the teen ride, I made him do some pretty crazy things! We race through the water, go swimming bareback, ride along cliffs like this, climb HUGE vertical mountains, go down crazy inclines. And if he trusts you, he’ll do it all and more. I know it’s stupid, but I feel like I let him down ‘cos I wasn’t there to vouch for him. If I were still there and continued to ride him I know they never would have gotten rid of him.
Anyway, when spring finally arrives at the Ranch there is sooo much stuff to do. We have to fix fence, clear trail, fix saddles, shoe and vaccinate the horses and all that. Well, I will never forget when Jello became my horse. On shoeing day, we have to tie all the horses up along the fenceline inside the corral. Jello untied himself about 4 times and was causing all kinds of trouble. By the end of the day they just had to turn him loose in the round pen. My boss pointed at him and just asked, “you want him?” Now how it works at the Ranch is the wranglers always end up with all the horses we can’t put guests on. Most of the “best of the worst” are already taken by the veteran wranglers. I wasn’t about to turn away what looked like a perfectly sound and athletic-looking horse.
See how athletic (if not always a little on the skinny side)?
So I took on Jello as my horse for the summer. He had a host of problems aside from his ability to untie himself and his issues with having his head and ears touched. He was a HUGE scaredy cat.
He’d never seen buffalo or elk before (which we see ALL the time on rides). He’d never crossed water, never opened or closed a gate before, never been ridden bareback, never swam in the water. He was afraid of everything! Scary looking rocks, scary looking logs, scary looking holes in the ground. He was a serious head case. My kids (the teenagers I took out) took to calling him “Ronald” (like Ron Weasley from Harry Potter) ‘cos he was a redhead and a big scaredy cat. I just loved him to death though! I spent HOURS working with him on my lunch break, after work, on my day off. By the end of 2 years I turned him into a helluva trail horse and was so sad to leave him. 
A sad, sad day...my last ever ride on him
I got to reunite with him briefly in 2008 on a drive cross-country and then again last year when I was out in Wyoming for my sister’s wedding. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever saw him and, sadly, the last time I ever will. He had some issues with his new rider last summer and had a couple accidents and the Ranch deemed him a ‘dangerous horse’ and ‘liability’. So they sold him : ( . It makes me unbelievably sad.
He taught me how to be a better rider and I’m so proud of what a great trail horse I turned him into. I know it’s silly, but I wanted to buy him one day. I hope he’s alive and happy wherever he is and has a new owner who is as patient with him as I was and appreciates what an awesome horse he is. He is a big scaredy cat, but if you build up a relationship with him he will do WHATEVER you ask him to. And believe me on the teen ride, I made him do some pretty crazy things! We race through the water, go swimming bareback, ride along cliffs like this, climb HUGE vertical mountains, go down crazy inclines. And if he trusts you, he’ll do it all and more. I know it’s stupid, but I feel like I let him down ‘cos I wasn’t there to vouch for him. If I were still there and continued to ride him I know they never would have gotten rid of him.I miss you buddy! and hope you are fat and happy wherever you are!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
My Favorite Place in the World
I've been MIA from this blog for just about a month and an awful lot has happened. The school year ended and I have been officially hired on for next year. I'm out in California for the summer with the boy and have been having a blast relaxing and doing a bit of sightseeing (but mostly just relaxing). I have been meaning to blog for a while, but wasn’t quite sure where to start.
I think one of the reasons my blog was on hiatus for so long is because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted it to be. Most blogs have specific niches - a wellness blog, a teaching blog, a running blog, a baby blog. I didn't really know what I wanted my focus to be. So from here on out, I'm just going to talk about me and my life in general, however uneventful it may be.
I figure a great place to start would be with my favorite place in the world, a place that if you spend any time with me you will find comes up in conversation an awful lot and that I simply refer to as “the Ranch”. I have to admit that I’m a bit pleased that while I am enjoying my stay in California it still doesn’t hold a candle to “the Ranch”. The Ranch is Triangle X Ranch, a guest ranch in Moose, Wyoming (just north of Jackson) that I first journeyed to on a family vacation back in 1997. My family of six returned every year, though the number of people dwindled each time. First my oldest brother opted not to return, then my dad decided a week of horseback riding just wasn’t his thing, then my sister went out there to work (she never left and is now married and about to start a family there), then my other brother could no longer take the time off. All in all, I came to the ranch as a guest for seven years before I started working out there myself my junior year of college. I was a glorified toilet scrubber and bed maker, but I loved every minute and returned after I graduated. I loved it so much that I stayed out there through the fall, winter and spring.
That summer I was promoted from toilet scrubbed extraordinaire to "teen wrangler" whose job was to teach every teenager that was a guest on the ranch (like I used to be) how to ride a horse and to make sure they had a fabulous week. I had always been a horse lover, but never rode seriously so it was a dream. My biggest problem of the day was whether or not to take my ride into the mountains or down to the river to swim with the horses. I stayed out there for two full years after graduation ‘living the dream’ before I decided to move on and go to graduate school. Sometimes I wish I’d stayed a few years longer, but I’m grateful for the time that I had out there. I look at my boyfriend who went right from college to his job in the military or my friends who went right to a full-time job and I realize how lucky I am.
The Ranch is and will always be my happy place, my own personal paradise. I know if life were ever to get rough or I were to get fired from my job that I could return to the Ranch and have a place there. I have family out there now, a sister and brother-in-law (and soon a niece or nephew). Just last week I received a phone call from my former boss offering me my old position. I turned it I down simply because of logistics, money and the fact that I already planned to spend my summer out here with the boy. We won’t get many opportunities to spend time together like this so I have to take every opportunity I can. It’s nice to know that after almost 3 years they still remember me. To this day they say I was the only teen wrangler who ever enjoyed being around teenagers that much. I talk and think about the Ranch all the time so it is comforting to know they think of me too.
I think one of the reasons my blog was on hiatus for so long is because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted it to be. Most blogs have specific niches - a wellness blog, a teaching blog, a running blog, a baby blog. I didn't really know what I wanted my focus to be. So from here on out, I'm just going to talk about me and my life in general, however uneventful it may be.
I figure a great place to start would be with my favorite place in the world, a place that if you spend any time with me you will find comes up in conversation an awful lot and that I simply refer to as “the Ranch”. I have to admit that I’m a bit pleased that while I am enjoying my stay in California it still doesn’t hold a candle to “the Ranch”. The Ranch is Triangle X Ranch, a guest ranch in Moose, Wyoming (just north of Jackson) that I first journeyed to on a family vacation back in 1997. My family of six returned every year, though the number of people dwindled each time. First my oldest brother opted not to return, then my dad decided a week of horseback riding just wasn’t his thing, then my sister went out there to work (she never left and is now married and about to start a family there), then my other brother could no longer take the time off. All in all, I came to the ranch as a guest for seven years before I started working out there myself my junior year of college. I was a glorified toilet scrubber and bed maker, but I loved every minute and returned after I graduated. I loved it so much that I stayed out there through the fall, winter and spring.
Pushing out the herd in the summer (photo courtesy of John Schairer)
The herd moving across the pasture in the fall
The ranch in winter
That summer I was promoted from toilet scrubbed extraordinaire to "teen wrangler" whose job was to teach every teenager that was a guest on the ranch (like I used to be) how to ride a horse and to make sure they had a fabulous week. I had always been a horse lover, but never rode seriously so it was a dream. My biggest problem of the day was whether or not to take my ride into the mountains or down to the river to swim with the horses. I stayed out there for two full years after graduation ‘living the dream’ before I decided to move on and go to graduate school. Sometimes I wish I’d stayed a few years longer, but I’m grateful for the time that I had out there. I look at my boyfriend who went right from college to his job in the military or my friends who went right to a full-time job and I realize how lucky I am.
This horse was my best friend for 2 years
The Ranch is and will always be my happy place, my own personal paradise. I know if life were ever to get rough or I were to get fired from my job that I could return to the Ranch and have a place there. I have family out there now, a sister and brother-in-law (and soon a niece or nephew). Just last week I received a phone call from my former boss offering me my old position. I turned it I down simply because of logistics, money and the fact that I already planned to spend my summer out here with the boy. We won’t get many opportunities to spend time together like this so I have to take every opportunity I can. It’s nice to know that after almost 3 years they still remember me. To this day they say I was the only teen wrangler who ever enjoyed being around teenagers that much. I talk and think about the Ranch all the time so it is comforting to know they think of me too.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Meeting Babe
While traveling back from my 5 year college reunion I had quite the celebrity encounter in the Philadelphia airport. He might not look to you like a celebrity. I highly doubt if you lined up 100 people many people would have been to spot him out of a crowd, but he is indeed a celebrity. There are newspaper articles, books and an entire miniseries about this man. Still, as I said, not many people would likely be able to pick him out of a lineup.
I came running to Gate B19 to catch my US Airways flight out of breath and annoyed at just about everything. I was annoyed I was in the Philly airport to begin with, but my original nonstop flight the night before had been canceled and it was all they had. I was annoyed that my flight that morning was delayed and then sat on the runway for thirty minutes. I was annoyed I had to run through the airport and race to catch a shuttle because of that stupid delay. I was annoyed my gate was all the way at the end of the terminal. Never mind that I had just spent an amazing weekend reconnecting with my college friends, all these little inconveniences were just adding up and stressing me out.
That is until I arrived at the gate, realized I hadn't missed the connection and looked around, as I always do, at who I would be sharing the plane with. That's when I saw Babe.
The first thing I noticed was a 101st Airborne cap on his head. I always notice veterans when I go out and if I haven't heard of the unit that they proudly display on their cap, I always make an effort to look it up when I get home. I looked closer at this man and saw a 506th battalion logo, then a Currahee patch. I took a long hard look at his ruddy face and I thought to myself, "my gosh...that's Babe Heffron!"
Now for those who don't know, I have been quite the military history enthusiast ever since visiting Normandy in 2001. That is honestly the whole reason I became a history major and, consequently, a history teacher. I stood out on that beach and looked back up and I visited the battlefields and cemeteries in the area and was just in awe that I didn't know more about this place and what happened there (I was 18 at the time).
It started with a basic book I bought for myself in France on the D-Day invasion. It has spread over the years to include an entire bookshelf full of books on the topic and a shelf full of DVDs and documentaries. My best friend from college once responded when asked what I would do if I could only do one thing for the rest of my life: "she
d read books on D-Day". My fascination with D-Day extended to an overall interest in World War II narratives and the first-hand accounts of men who, to quote Don Malarkey, were so brave as to be unbelievable. Babe Heffron was one of those men.
He was 19 years old when he answered the call to serve in 1942. He went to jump school and though he didn't jump into Normandy, he fought in Operation Market Garden and earned a bronze star at the Battle of the Bulge. He was an ordinary guy called in to do extraordinary things. HBO chose to focus on Babe's unit, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne when they made their epic miniseries Band of Brothers (which I have probably seen 5-6 times). Babe is not featured prominently in the film. If you have not read the book or seen the miniseries before you probably wouldn't remember him. He was a replacement who joined after the Normandy campaign and quickly earned the respect of his fellow soldiers. The actor who portrays Babe, Robin Laing, does a fabulous job portraying the 22 year old in combat. One of his most memorable and emotional episodes is the Breaking Point, which depicts how Easy Company endured the horrific Battle of the Bulge. It boggles my mind how these men survived the conditions they did and were able to go on to live such meaningful lives. If you have not seen the miniseries, I highly recommend it. The excuse that "I'm not into war movies" does not hold up. Band of Brothers is a film (miniseries) that every American should see. It's not just a "war movie". The real men of Easy Company are featured prominently at the start of each episode. that is when you'll hear these men vehemently deny that they are heroes or celebrities. To quote Babe, "the real men, the real heroes are the fellows that are still buried over there and those that come home to be buried."
Knowing that, I was very reluctant to introduce myself to Babe. I was genuinely starstruck once I realized it was him and could not work up the courage to speak to him. I wondered if I should just leave him alone. I was 99% confident it was him, but just to be sure I stammered a weak "Mr. Heffron?" to which he turned to me and, in his wonderful South Philly accent, replied "yeah, that's me! I'm Babe!" I introduced myself and told him the story about how and why I became a teacher and what an honor it was to meet him. I only talked to him for about 5 minutes, but in those 5 minuets he told me about all the speaking engagements he does all over the country and how important it is to him to make sure people remember and understand the sacrifices that men and women in uniform make. He told me about how he tried to go to Iraq in 2008 (at the age of 85!) but was stuck in Kuwait 'cos of a sandstorm. He told me about how much he can't stand the liberal papers and people who do nothing but slam the United States. I think everyone at the gate was wondering "why is this girl bothering this poor old man?" Like I said, I was hesitant about bothering him because, despite the fact that he does many speaking tours and wears a jacket and cap that proudly display his service, he does not love being a celebrity. Like I said above, he doesn't believe he's a hero and believes very strongly that he is just a guy who did his job.
Now I'm not the kind of person who glorifies military service and thinks it's "cool" and that everyone who dons a uniform is a superheros or something. I think war is awful. To quote Babe's CO, Major Dick Winters, "wars do not make a man great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." I think the veterans of WWII are men who led awe-inspiring lives and who this world owes a debt of gratitude to that can truly never be repaid.
As if my exchange with him at the gate wasn't enough, as he was exiting the plane he winked at me, handed me a folded up newspaper, and in his awesome South Philly accent says, "here ya go, I wrote ya something!"
There was a two page article in the Philadelphia newspaper about him and his buddy and fellow Easy Company veteran, Bill Guarnere. On the back page he wrote: Thank you for teaching American history! ~ Babe Heffron, Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne. "Band of Brothers". I was in awe as I read it. To think that this guy was thanking ME was mind boggling.
The article was all about Babe and Bill fighting for a monument to honors their former commander, Richard Winters, to be erected in Normandy. which would symbolize the leadership of all Americans on D-Day. The statue would include a statue of Winters leading from the front, as all good leaders, and the quote, "wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." Nothing could sum up my feelings of the men of this generation any better.
I leave you with the last 7 minutes of the Band of Brothers miniseries. It includes a wonderful narrative by Damian Lewis, who portrayed Major Winters, of what all the men did after the war and interviews with the real men of Easy Company. If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I might be convinced you're dead inside.
I came running to Gate B19 to catch my US Airways flight out of breath and annoyed at just about everything. I was annoyed I was in the Philly airport to begin with, but my original nonstop flight the night before had been canceled and it was all they had. I was annoyed that my flight that morning was delayed and then sat on the runway for thirty minutes. I was annoyed I had to run through the airport and race to catch a shuttle because of that stupid delay. I was annoyed my gate was all the way at the end of the terminal. Never mind that I had just spent an amazing weekend reconnecting with my college friends, all these little inconveniences were just adding up and stressing me out.
That is until I arrived at the gate, realized I hadn't missed the connection and looked around, as I always do, at who I would be sharing the plane with. That's when I saw Babe.
The first thing I noticed was a 101st Airborne cap on his head. I always notice veterans when I go out and if I haven't heard of the unit that they proudly display on their cap, I always make an effort to look it up when I get home. I looked closer at this man and saw a 506th battalion logo, then a Currahee patch. I took a long hard look at his ruddy face and I thought to myself, "my gosh...that's Babe Heffron!"Now for those who don't know, I have been quite the military history enthusiast ever since visiting Normandy in 2001. That is honestly the whole reason I became a history major and, consequently, a history teacher. I stood out on that beach and looked back up and I visited the battlefields and cemeteries in the area and was just in awe that I didn't know more about this place and what happened there (I was 18 at the time).
It started with a basic book I bought for myself in France on the D-Day invasion. It has spread over the years to include an entire bookshelf full of books on the topic and a shelf full of DVDs and documentaries. My best friend from college once responded when asked what I would do if I could only do one thing for the rest of my life: "she
d read books on D-Day". My fascination with D-Day extended to an overall interest in World War II narratives and the first-hand accounts of men who, to quote Don Malarkey, were so brave as to be unbelievable. Babe Heffron was one of those men.
He was 19 years old when he answered the call to serve in 1942. He went to jump school and though he didn't jump into Normandy, he fought in Operation Market Garden and earned a bronze star at the Battle of the Bulge. He was an ordinary guy called in to do extraordinary things. HBO chose to focus on Babe's unit, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne when they made their epic miniseries Band of Brothers (which I have probably seen 5-6 times). Babe is not featured prominently in the film. If you have not read the book or seen the miniseries before you probably wouldn't remember him. He was a replacement who joined after the Normandy campaign and quickly earned the respect of his fellow soldiers. The actor who portrays Babe, Robin Laing, does a fabulous job portraying the 22 year old in combat. One of his most memorable and emotional episodes is the Breaking Point, which depicts how Easy Company endured the horrific Battle of the Bulge. It boggles my mind how these men survived the conditions they did and were able to go on to live such meaningful lives. If you have not seen the miniseries, I highly recommend it. The excuse that "I'm not into war movies" does not hold up. Band of Brothers is a film (miniseries) that every American should see. It's not just a "war movie". The real men of Easy Company are featured prominently at the start of each episode. that is when you'll hear these men vehemently deny that they are heroes or celebrities. To quote Babe, "the real men, the real heroes are the fellows that are still buried over there and those that come home to be buried."
Knowing that, I was very reluctant to introduce myself to Babe. I was genuinely starstruck once I realized it was him and could not work up the courage to speak to him. I wondered if I should just leave him alone. I was 99% confident it was him, but just to be sure I stammered a weak "Mr. Heffron?" to which he turned to me and, in his wonderful South Philly accent, replied "yeah, that's me! I'm Babe!" I introduced myself and told him the story about how and why I became a teacher and what an honor it was to meet him. I only talked to him for about 5 minutes, but in those 5 minuets he told me about all the speaking engagements he does all over the country and how important it is to him to make sure people remember and understand the sacrifices that men and women in uniform make. He told me about how he tried to go to Iraq in 2008 (at the age of 85!) but was stuck in Kuwait 'cos of a sandstorm. He told me about how much he can't stand the liberal papers and people who do nothing but slam the United States. I think everyone at the gate was wondering "why is this girl bothering this poor old man?" Like I said, I was hesitant about bothering him because, despite the fact that he does many speaking tours and wears a jacket and cap that proudly display his service, he does not love being a celebrity. Like I said above, he doesn't believe he's a hero and believes very strongly that he is just a guy who did his job.
Now I'm not the kind of person who glorifies military service and thinks it's "cool" and that everyone who dons a uniform is a superheros or something. I think war is awful. To quote Babe's CO, Major Dick Winters, "wars do not make a man great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." I think the veterans of WWII are men who led awe-inspiring lives and who this world owes a debt of gratitude to that can truly never be repaid.
As if my exchange with him at the gate wasn't enough, as he was exiting the plane he winked at me, handed me a folded up newspaper, and in his awesome South Philly accent says, "here ya go, I wrote ya something!"
There was a two page article in the Philadelphia newspaper about him and his buddy and fellow Easy Company veteran, Bill Guarnere. On the back page he wrote: Thank you for teaching American history! ~ Babe Heffron, Easy Company, 506th, 101st Airborne. "Band of Brothers". I was in awe as I read it. To think that this guy was thanking ME was mind boggling.
The article was all about Babe and Bill fighting for a monument to honors their former commander, Richard Winters, to be erected in Normandy. which would symbolize the leadership of all Americans on D-Day. The statue would include a statue of Winters leading from the front, as all good leaders, and the quote, "wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men." Nothing could sum up my feelings of the men of this generation any better.
I leave you with the last 7 minutes of the Band of Brothers miniseries. It includes a wonderful narrative by Damian Lewis, who portrayed Major Winters, of what all the men did after the war and interviews with the real men of Easy Company. If it doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I might be convinced you're dead inside.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
The Story of Lima Company
One more day of regular class!! I'm so excited and antsy I can't even concentrate on the little grading and work I have to finish up. It has been an interesting couple of days. JC has been super busy with school (of course), but he called to tell me that he got a package I sent him. He said it made his day, which was obviously the whole point in sending it so that made me smile. He has a test tomorrow that I know he is nervous about so I wanted to make him smile. Speaking of studying, I emailed the professor of the religion class I will be taking this summer to tell him that I would be missing the first two class meetings and to ask for the syllabus and book list. He got back to me and after reading over the syllabus I am even more excited than ever! I'm sure my tune might change 6 weeks from now, but I am excited to be a student again and have something to do this summer 'cos I HATE doing nothing.
As for the title of my post. I got a comment today on a YouTube video I posted several years ago about the Marines of Lima Company. What is my relation to Lima Company, you ask? I'm an Army girlfriend, with no involvement to the Corps, right? WRONG!
It's quite a long story that starts my senior year of college. I was, at that point, not directly involved or tied to the military in any way shape or form. I was working on finishing up my history degree, which had an emphasis in military history, but aside from a deep admiration for our men and women in uniform, I had no connections whatsover. It was November 2004 and I remember seeing TV footage of Operation Phantom Fury (aka the 2nd battle of Fallujah). I remember being so moved seeing pictures of Marines and Soldiers who looked younger than me and at that moment I started searching for a program that would allow me to do more than just slap a magnet on my car to "Support Our Troops".
So I signed up for a program called Adopt-A-Platoon that would pair me with a deployed servicemember to support for the duration of his/her deployment. It took a couple months and even a phone call to verify that I was in fact, me, and was serious about the support I would provide. I was paired with a 19 year old Lance Corporal in March of '05 at the very start of his Reserve unit's 7 month deployment to Iraq. It was expected to be a rather uneventful deployment and for the first few months it was. I sent letters, emails and packages to my adopted Marine, who was quick to write me back and introduce himself. He told me to longer call him the formal name which the organization had provided me with and immediately picked up on my introductory letter where I informed him that while my name was Abigail, my closest friends and family called me "Abs". His first letter back to me read "Dear Abs" and I knew then that I had been paired with an exceptional young man who was not about to mistake my support as a dating service (like many unfortunately do). He was originally from Ghana, West Africa and his dad had been a U.N officer wounded on duty, which is how he ended up in the states. He joined the Corps right out of high school, but was pursuing a degree at Ohio State and just sounded like an all around exceptional young man. (My dad is still convinced he will end up being the Secretary of State one day!)
Anyway, his company's uneventful deployment sadly ended up being a nightmare. The emails and phone calls I received from him were difficult to read and hear, but he frequently told me how much talking to me helped as I'm sure they weren't things he could tell his family. I was out in Wyoming for much of his deployment and I think he loved hearing my stories about life on the range being chased by buffalo that were so far away from the hell he was enduring. His unit unfortunately ended up being the hardest hit unit to serve in Iraq (they lost 23 members, including 14 in a span of 3 days ). He and I developed a wonderful friendship and my mother and father would even write him sometimes throughout the deployment. Though I was not able to be there for his homecoming (which was an absolutely AMAZING event) because I was out in Wyoming, I did get to go meet him several months later. We kept in touch for several years after, but have unfortunately lost touch over the years.
I was so deeply moved by the trials of his company, and most especially, the way they were welcomed home that about a month after he returned home, that I put together this tribute video together using pictures he sent me while deployed and others from local websites of their homecoming. I get frequent comments and messages about the video, most often from family and friends of those who served, but often from the Marines themselves.
Every time I receive a message I always view the video myself. I know the stories and lives of these fallen Marines so well. Most of them were in my friend's platoon and he has told me a lot about them. Today I received a message that inspired me to check up on the company to see what they were doing and if they were deploying again, which I do every so often. Sure enough my old friend is deploying again, this time as a Corporal in charge of new Marines. He is apparently one of only eight Marines who went through the 2005 deployment that is still with the unit. Although I have not heard from him in several years, I sent him an email to offer my support yet again. I truly hope I hear back from him so that JC and I can support him and his Marines this summer. My life has changed so much since I last talked to him. I think about him often and wonder if he accomplished everything he planned on doing.
Anyway, I must finish making my final and figure out what on earth I should do on my last day of class tomorrow.
As for the title of my post. I got a comment today on a YouTube video I posted several years ago about the Marines of Lima Company. What is my relation to Lima Company, you ask? I'm an Army girlfriend, with no involvement to the Corps, right? WRONG!
It's quite a long story that starts my senior year of college. I was, at that point, not directly involved or tied to the military in any way shape or form. I was working on finishing up my history degree, which had an emphasis in military history, but aside from a deep admiration for our men and women in uniform, I had no connections whatsover. It was November 2004 and I remember seeing TV footage of Operation Phantom Fury (aka the 2nd battle of Fallujah). I remember being so moved seeing pictures of Marines and Soldiers who looked younger than me and at that moment I started searching for a program that would allow me to do more than just slap a magnet on my car to "Support Our Troops".
So I signed up for a program called Adopt-A-Platoon that would pair me with a deployed servicemember to support for the duration of his/her deployment. It took a couple months and even a phone call to verify that I was in fact, me, and was serious about the support I would provide. I was paired with a 19 year old Lance Corporal in March of '05 at the very start of his Reserve unit's 7 month deployment to Iraq. It was expected to be a rather uneventful deployment and for the first few months it was. I sent letters, emails and packages to my adopted Marine, who was quick to write me back and introduce himself. He told me to longer call him the formal name which the organization had provided me with and immediately picked up on my introductory letter where I informed him that while my name was Abigail, my closest friends and family called me "Abs". His first letter back to me read "Dear Abs" and I knew then that I had been paired with an exceptional young man who was not about to mistake my support as a dating service (like many unfortunately do). He was originally from Ghana, West Africa and his dad had been a U.N officer wounded on duty, which is how he ended up in the states. He joined the Corps right out of high school, but was pursuing a degree at Ohio State and just sounded like an all around exceptional young man. (My dad is still convinced he will end up being the Secretary of State one day!)
Anyway, his company's uneventful deployment sadly ended up being a nightmare. The emails and phone calls I received from him were difficult to read and hear, but he frequently told me how much talking to me helped as I'm sure they weren't things he could tell his family. I was out in Wyoming for much of his deployment and I think he loved hearing my stories about life on the range being chased by buffalo that were so far away from the hell he was enduring. His unit unfortunately ended up being the hardest hit unit to serve in Iraq (they lost 23 members, including 14 in a span of 3 days ). He and I developed a wonderful friendship and my mother and father would even write him sometimes throughout the deployment. Though I was not able to be there for his homecoming (which was an absolutely AMAZING event) because I was out in Wyoming, I did get to go meet him several months later. We kept in touch for several years after, but have unfortunately lost touch over the years.
I was so deeply moved by the trials of his company, and most especially, the way they were welcomed home that about a month after he returned home, that I put together this tribute video together using pictures he sent me while deployed and others from local websites of their homecoming. I get frequent comments and messages about the video, most often from family and friends of those who served, but often from the Marines themselves.
Every time I receive a message I always view the video myself. I know the stories and lives of these fallen Marines so well. Most of them were in my friend's platoon and he has told me a lot about them. Today I received a message that inspired me to check up on the company to see what they were doing and if they were deploying again, which I do every so often. Sure enough my old friend is deploying again, this time as a Corporal in charge of new Marines. He is apparently one of only eight Marines who went through the 2005 deployment that is still with the unit. Although I have not heard from him in several years, I sent him an email to offer my support yet again. I truly hope I hear back from him so that JC and I can support him and his Marines this summer. My life has changed so much since I last talked to him. I think about him often and wonder if he accomplished everything he planned on doing.
Anyway, I must finish making my final and figure out what on earth I should do on my last day of class tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Home Stretch
Well, I'm down to the final stretch in this marathon that is my first-year teaching. Last Thursday was the last day I saw all of my seniors as that Friday was unofficial senior cut day and this week is senior exam week (except none of the seniors have to take exams). I can't say that I will miss them at all. There are really very few redeeming things about teaching seniors. I'll teach them again because it's a job, but if I could afford to be picky I would never teach seniors again.
These last couple weeks since the SOL tests have been a weird combination of relaxation and unneeded stress. The lesson planning isn't stressful. I honestly so lesson-planned out and so sick of teaching 'new' content I can't even tell you. I've pretty much been winging it and making it up in the 10 minutes before I leave for school. I'm teaching current issues and showing lots of videos. They watched Hotel Rwanda and we had a Socratic Seminar about it, then watched a documentary about North Korea. I taught them about Tianamen Square and current issues in China today. We had a class discussion today about what the term terrorism means and what their goals are. It should be interesting stuff and it is all stuff I really want them to learn. The problem is they've checked out. As one of my brightest students even said to me today when asking if he could make up a quiz from last week during math class, "SOLs are over. We're not doing anything." The kids know it and it's hard to convince them otherwise. I can't force them to pay attention to what I'm teaching them right now. I'm not going to test them on it the last day of school and they know that.
While their behavior and outlook about these last days bothers me, I can't be too much of a hypocrite. After all, I did just confess I haven't put a terrible amount of thought into my lessons these last couple weeks either. Bottom line is, I'm ready to cross that finish line and be able to say I did it. I finished my first year teaching. Two more days of class and then one week of finals and workdays to go.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
These last couple weeks since the SOL tests have been a weird combination of relaxation and unneeded stress. The lesson planning isn't stressful. I honestly so lesson-planned out and so sick of teaching 'new' content I can't even tell you. I've pretty much been winging it and making it up in the 10 minutes before I leave for school. I'm teaching current issues and showing lots of videos. They watched Hotel Rwanda and we had a Socratic Seminar about it, then watched a documentary about North Korea. I taught them about Tianamen Square and current issues in China today. We had a class discussion today about what the term terrorism means and what their goals are. It should be interesting stuff and it is all stuff I really want them to learn. The problem is they've checked out. As one of my brightest students even said to me today when asking if he could make up a quiz from last week during math class, "SOLs are over. We're not doing anything." The kids know it and it's hard to convince them otherwise. I can't force them to pay attention to what I'm teaching them right now. I'm not going to test them on it the last day of school and they know that.
While their behavior and outlook about these last days bothers me, I can't be too much of a hypocrite. After all, I did just confess I haven't put a terrible amount of thought into my lessons these last couple weeks either. Bottom line is, I'm ready to cross that finish line and be able to say I did it. I finished my first year teaching. Two more days of class and then one week of finals and workdays to go.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Reason for the Season
There is always such an uproar about how commercial the Christmas season has gotten and you often see bumper stickers with or hear the phrase "remember the reason for the season". I'll admit house after house of giant inflatable Santas and snow globes gets a bit tiresome, but I feel even more strongly about what Memorial Day has turned into.
Most Americans love Memorial Day because it means a day off from work or school, a long weekend and the start of summer. It means cookouts, trips to the beach and days on the lake. For military families, it means something else entirely. It means someone is missing their family this Memorial Day so you could enjoy the day with yours. Memorial Day is, above all, a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
It is also a day of mourning for so many families. There are a lot of people I want to pause and remember on this day. The picture above is of the widow of a soldier from my hometown, SGT James J Regan, who was killed in Iraq in February, 2007. He was a graduate of Duke University who could have done anything with his life upon graduating. He scored very high on the LSATs and could have gone on to law school, but he chose to enlist in the U.S Army. Most people believe that he enlisted because he felt it was his duty. My hometown sends a lot of communters on the train toward Wall Street every morning. On 9/11 a lot of those commuters didn't come back and there were funerals all over the town. No one can ever truly explain what calls someone to serve. Whether it is the challenge, love of country, or simply the sense of adventure and opportunity to "blow things up" (as many of my high school seniors going into the service have confessed), the bottom line is they sacrifice a tremendous amount and deserve to be remembered.
I can't lie, I am enjoying my three day weekend. I will enjoy cooking burgers and eating watermelon and pie with my big brother, but at 3 PM I will pause for the National Moment of Remembrance. Did you even know there was such a thing? I would wager 90% of Americans don't. Most Americans probably don't know why people wear poppies on Memorial Day. The reason for that is most Americans have forgotten the significance and traditions of Memorial Day.
The story behind the poppies, by the way, comes from a UGA professor who wrote a response to the WWI poem "In Flanders Field". The first line of the poem reads, “in Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row." The UGA professor was so moved that she wrote a response poem and vowed to wear a poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those who served. I leave you with her poem.
We Shall Keep the Faith
by Moina Michael, November 1918
Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.
We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.
And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Field
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