Well….. When we last left the story, my father’s last duty
assignment was Seattle, WA, and my parents decided to stay. You see; Seattle reminded
my mother of her hometown (Berchtesgaden, Germany) so staying was not a hard
decision for them. I really didn’t have a choice, so I spent my senior year of
high school in a brand new school with new people. The readers who know me personally
know that change is not a difficult thing for me; I’ve been doing it since I
was born and in some aspects, I find that no change makes me a little stir
crazy because I get bored staying in one place for too long. Anyway, I finished
out my senior year, started my first office job and was going to college. I
really felt like things were going really good. Well, the school thing just
didn’t stick; I found that I was dividing myself too much between work and
school so I quit school and kept the job. After about 5 years on the job I
decided that I need to take a vacation and I met a friend (Ami), and we started
talking and one thing led to another and we were off to Germany together for
the summer. Let me say that we had the best time in the summer or 1991. I still
get out my photo album and reminisce over each picture taken. We rode the train
around a few times and walked just about everywhere. Well that year was also
the year that I met my husband of 20 years. I know this is the part that most
of you have been waiting for and the suspense was just killing you……. Did I
tell you about the first car that I ever bought?? Oh you don’t want to hear
about that? Ok Ok here goes……..
The summer
of 1991 I took a trip to Germany with the goal of spending 6 weeks having the
time of my life. Ami and I spent many days out touring the cities and the
evenings hanging out at some of the local hotspots. One Friday night, we went
out with my Aunt and Uncle to one of the local bars. Right next door was a
dance club that I remember being there the many summers that the family
vacationed there from Kuwait. Anyway, that night I kept going out on the balcony
and looking next door because something told me that I really needed to be
there. Normally, I don’t listen or I ignore the signs, but that night I didn’t,
I grabbed Ami and we went next door for dancing cause really a couple of girls
in their 20s really do not want to sit around a bar. Nowadays, I’d be happy
doing that but not then. We get inside and the place it packed so we grab a
beer (yes I was drinking beer back then) and head out on the dance floor. I’d
been out there for about four songs already, and then I felt like I ran into
someone who was behind me. I turned around to say sorry, and there he was this blond-haired
blue-eyed baby faced person who was dancing alone (so was I) so I decided we’d
dance together. At this point, neither one of us knew whether the other was
American or German, but it really didn’t matter. I discovered later that Jim
wanted to get my attention, so he walked out on to the dance floor and pushed
me or as he says it he “accidentally” bumped into me to get my attention. We
spent the next couple of days together, and then he had to go back to his duty assignment,
and I had to get back home. We exchanged addresses and phone numbers and said
we’d keep in touch, but who really does that. Now remember this was long before
email was that widely used and I found myself writing letters to him almost daily.
He did end up getting stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA, we were engaged for a year
and were married at the end of January 1993 and have been together ever since. He
really is my best friend, and I’m not sure what I would do without him so every
day I work so that I never have to know…… I hope you enjoyed this little
glimpse into my life. Tune in again for the next round of random……. I’m
thinking it’s almost time for another weight loss update, which is going good
by the way, but we’ll save that for later……..
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| There's a story behind this picture |
Thank
you to my father who was Active Army for 27 years and retired in Seattle, WA.
Thank you Mom for going through the many moves and for dragging around the
world. My brother (Bill) who served in the Army and got out to become a Police
Officer in AR and to his wife, Wendy for standing by his side. My husband (Jim)
who is currently serving in the Army and has been for over 23 years, and I
would not want to be anywhere else but by his side. To the following couples
that I have met, and I’m proud to call close friends: Steve and Joanna; Dustin
and Traci; and Tomas and Sara. To the young men who are enlisting in the
Marines (Paul) and anyone else that
reads this and is part of the Armed Forces. I thank each of you from the bottom
of my heart for the sacrifices made. All of us have made them during
deployments, PCS moves, etc.… we may be spread out, but we are one big family
that I’m proud to be a part of.
A
special thank you to the Logan/Porter family may your next journey be a good
one, and I hope you meet some really great people. 
