Well, by the date of this post you can see how attentive I have been to my weblog. Unfortunately my journal at home has much greater cause for protest. I decided to post this message today because everyone else thinks that this should be a special day. Today when I woke up, my twenty-something phase of my life was behind me. November 29th, 1971 to November 29th, 2001, exactly 30 years ago today I was born into this world, and it has been one hell of a ride ever since. I suppose many people, (women for the most part), look at turning 30 with the resolute drudgery that they are OLD, I don't mean older....I mean OLD. I suppose this realization deals with the idea that there are certain dreams, goals, and aspirations that will never come to fruition because you are just too rotten OLD! Well, I suppose that is the case, but I am so happy with my life it really doesn't matter to me. I consider my life to be a journey, and I proceeded on this journey with the realization that I was not ever going back to the starting point. So, there is no such thing as a wrong turn, because there will always be another way back onto the expressway. I woke up this morning about 6:00 a.m., showered, shaved, dressed, and got the boys up and dressed as well. I fixed a little something to eat and woke Renee up about 7:00. She woke up with a smile and wished me a Happy Birthday and 15 minutes later I was on the road to drop the boys off at Daycare and School. By 7:50 I was at my desk going over the notes I have made thus far on the beta test of the new software we are trying. Sandra, the lady from the cubicle across from mine wished me a Happy Birthday, and I got a call from my oldest sister. I suppose the magic of birthdays is the greatest as a child, I don't feel indifferent, but I consider it to not only be a tribute to the anniversary of my birth, but a reason to look back at what has happened since my last birthday, and measure the substance of its growth. A lot has happened between 29 and 30 that I am very grateful for. I am a child-of-God, a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a frat brother, a cousin, a co-worker, and a helper. So I feel good today, not because today is my birthday, but simply because today is a good day for a multitude of reasons. No need to wish me a happy Birthday.....I feel great because today is my birthday, and I already AM happy.
Being an Officer...a Black one.....is sometimes hard. [Howard Rollins from "A Soldier's Story"] Sometimes being an Officer is difficult....not because of hard tasks, short timelines, or all of the worries involved in the care of your Soldier's, but the aura of professionalism and objectivity that you must display at all times. There have been many times that I have wanted to make a comment, yell, cuss at someone, or otherwise let my personal feelings be known about a subject, but unfortunately I could not because of my position. Let me tell you about two incidents that bothered me in particular. I was in Dallas Ft. Worth airport waiting to catch a flight on the last leg of my TDY trip to help a returning unit at Ft. Sill. As I went to my gate, I saw 4 Sailors in their black uniforms gathered at the gate...one was large and white, the other three were black. There was very little room, and many of them were standing intermingled with civilian airline passengers...
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