it's about BBBBBB's, beta, bikes, and BEAST!

…….she’s leaving on a jet plane……    and my new life will begin.     i’m not prepared, i know i’m not…   i’m living in this fantasy that “you won’t have to worry anymore” (not).   “you aren’t responsible for anyone else but yourself for the first time in 25+ years”(not).   peace and quiet (so what).  what the heck is she talking about you ask?    my youngest is heading off to college.  more importantly, i must say, the ARMY…  she has worked her tail off for many years… her dream was to attend USMA since she was 12 years old….  my father is a graduate… he kept telling us children, there was four of us…. “YOU must attend West Point….. i want a helmet next to my name.”   (if you’re military from USMA, you know what that means.)  not one of us four children went there…. my sister tried, but was unable to pass the vision test…. but the legacy continued anyway….. 

West Point, New York
USMA United States Military Academy

all of my siblings (and their spouses) served in the Army. EXCEPT me….. i always said, i was the Army Brat.  i remember vietnam… i remember the sit~ins at the univ of WI in madison…. i remember the bombing of the science building (my dad was getting his graduate degree in chemical engineering there, so it was HIS building they bombed, he took it VERY personal), i remember fort bragg… so my memories of the service were jilted a bit….. but i was raised doing pushups for infractions….. my father made me an athlete…. i swam… i lifted weights… when i wrecked the  car, (i took the car without permission, eeek), he made me buy a bike and i rode that thing 5+ miles to work every day, rain, sleet, and yeah, SNOW! (up hills both ways, lol)…..  

but, my sister’s son went and graduated from West Point in ’09.  he is deploying tomorrow.  please pray for his well being….   So, my dad got his helmet.    And, before he stopped his renal dialysis, and died 16 days later, he KNEW my daughter was appointment and recruited to swim for West Point… she will leave in 30 days for BEAST! 
……..this means I WILL BE ALONE!    

…….  i’m left with her beta fish (it’s purple, her favorite color)…. thank god i have RALPHIE, my rescued pug…..  she and i, and shakespeare, the beta fish will have to figure out our new life sans meanagers….. tonite I head to her senior award’s presentation…..monday, she marches in her last sarasota military parade as a 2^nd lt. JROTC, let II, then…..   i’ll spend every blessed moment i can with my daughter as she gets ready to fly out of the nest, and soar like an eagle (this is her spirit animal, btw)…   then,  after i put her on the plane, i’ll crumble into a heap, and begin my NEW life, whatever that may be….  i’ll be sure to feed shakespeare and ralphie when i get home that day….

xxoo~nicole