Sailing

“Fantasy, it gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie, every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me?” *


Ok, spleen is empty, now back to our regular scheduled programming. We are under 1 week until our cruise; have I mentioned that we are going on a cruise? Seven days, with stops in Nassau, St Thomas, and St Maarten. We can hardly wait.

A couple of years ago Fozzie and I spent the weekend with TJ and the Geek. I can’t remember if we had started going to the Renaissance Fairs or not; maybe we had, and were trying to think of more reasons to get together. Anyhow, somebody mentioned getting the gang all together and taking a cruise. None of us had ever been on one before, and I know it is something I have always wanted to do. TJ had concerns because she gets horribly motion sick, Fozzie and the Geek had the usual “how much is this gonna cost me” concerns and since I had no concerns I got the job of trying to plan something.

As it turned out, TJ and the Geek took a quick 3 day cruise by the end of that year—just to see if they would like it. Earthpig and My Evil Twin took a cruise for their anniversary. Fozzie and I wound up taking a week long cruise with my parents, and 2 of my 3 sisters last year. Most all of us were in love. So last fall, when the gang gathered here for the trip to the Renaissance Fair, I had all the information I needed to get us a cruise. We started out big-my parents were going to go again, Wojo and Beautiful Bob were going to get a suite, the Earthpigs were going to get a balcony, my girlfriend from high school was going to go—it was looking like I would be able to book 8 cabins and get to sail free. But alas, life intervenes and my folks cancelled, as did Wojo and my girlfriend.

But who cares?? We are still going to cruise. We added CombatMom and her son just a few months ago, in between her active duty AirFarce deployments—we figure she could use a vacation. She will be flying in from Oklahoma. TJ and the Geek will be driving from LA (lower Alabama/Florida panhandle) to the port. Fozzie and I will get up early and meet the Earthpigs down in SC and caravan our way to Florida. I hope to stop in St Augustine for the day-Fozzie has never been there and it is a beautiful town.

As excited as I am about the cruise, I am more excited to get to be with my military family again. This is something I don’t think civilians understand. When you are in the military, far away from home, your brothers and sisters in arms are all you’ve got. Very strong bonds are formed, and these people become the extended family to your children, filling the roles of aunts, uncles, cousins. You work together, travel together and play together.

Guam seems to have been responsible for making extraordinary sets of ties. Fozzie and I were married there, and I know of 5 other couples we worked with that married that year.
All marriages are still going strong, 13 years down the road. I keep in touch with a wide variety of folks from Guam, including all those going on the cruise next week. The AirFarce changed a lot while I was in it, and much for the worse since I got out. But one thing that did not change is my love for my military family, the family of my heart.

Here’s to us guys!


“Sailing takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free” *

* Sailing, 1979, Christopher Cross