Veterans Day

Well, how are you?  How did your Veterans Day go?  Mine went pretty good.  No pomp and circumstance.  Just a little quiet contemplation.  Many of you who read my blog know that someone who is very dear to me is a veteran.  It seems quite unnatural to think of my little brother as a veteran but he is.  Blue went to Marine Officer Candidate school after graduating from West Texas A&M.  It was soo odd thinking that my little brother was not only going to be following orders but giving them as well.  Let's just say that Blue was laid back, REAL laid-back not the over achiever that our sister Sarah was (HA! - I had to throw that in for my sister....) Anyhoo - after he finished OCS I flew with my Dad and ChaCha and my stepbrother Michael and step sister Anna to Quantico, Virginia to watch him graduate.  The minute we got there and watched him marching with all those Marines... I knew that things would never be the same.  No longer was he just my little brother, he was a man... He was a man of courage and strength.  Long gone was that kid who used to sit and watch cartoons and gripe about taking a bath.  My Dad was so proud of Blue - I must admit it was a little sickening but deep down I was so proud of him.  He listened and learned and totally transformed into a Marine.  Blue was deployed twice.  What all he did over there is still a mystery to me and it doesn't really matter to me.  I know that he accepted his assignments and completed them to the best of his ability.  How do I know that?  Because he's a Marine and that's just what Marines do. Plain and Simple.  Sempre Fi.  Always Faithful.  How's that for a slogan?  Faithful to your work, faithful to your brothers and sisters who are Marines.  Faithful to an ideal.  These people called Marines are different.  My Dad's one - trust me I know because that's how he defines himself.  When I speak of Blue that's how I define him - you know my little brother - just got out of the Marines,  or you know my brother's a Marine.  That's just who and what he is.  So here's to you Salty Dawg... jar head... devil dog! 


from your sister, who is always faithful... to you.