Yay!
It truly is the most wonderful time of the year, especially when your favorite sailor comes home for holiday! Anthony flew in to Atlantic City in under two hours the Friday before Christmas. He got a ride to the Myrtle Beach airport with another sailor on the same flight. They even got bumped up to first class because they wore their uniforms! Anthony reaked of scotch when his mother and I gave him a hug. Oh the perks of first class. Anyway, as you can tell his mother and I went to pick him up from the airport. We got back to Anthony's house just before one o'clock in the morning since we all live about an hour from AC. The whole car ride to his house I was just taking in that he was sitting in the car next to me. I was lucky enough to be able to sleep over with Anthony that night and the next. Though, the first night we didn't get to bed until about three am, if you catch my drift. It was a good night.
Anthony has so, so much family to see while he was home for those short five days. We attended four parties: three Christmas parties and one just for Anthony. Anthony's party was Saturday, Sunday was dinner with my parents, then came Christmas eve at his aunt's, Christmas night at my sister's, and the day after Christmas at his grandpop's party. We were both on family overload. So many nice-to-meet-you's and how-have-you-been's. I definitely enjoyed seeing all the people we did, from aunts and uncles to friends, cousins, and great grandmothers. Poor Anthony had to keep answering all the same questions over and over. One person would ask a set of questions, and then another the same set, and another, and so on. All the "Was it what you expected? What are you doing now? Have you been on a ship yet? When are you coming back?" Even I was getting tired of hearing the same questions over and over. It really was great seeing all the family though, as well as opening presents with each other.
We squeezed so much into such little time. Not to mention Anthony had his own business at home to take care of. By that I mean his car he is driving back to Goose Creek. In fact he is driving as I type right now. His car was sitting at a friend's shop since he left and was being repaired recently so he could take it down. Anthony had to get new registration, insurance, and inspection squared away. Thankfully it all worked out and he his on his merry way. He will be so happy to have a car at NNPTC. No more taxis! I'm still nervous about him making it all the way with no problems. It's not a new car either, its a '90s model. On top of this Anthony was progressively getting ill from the moment he set foot in Jersey. He barely got to indulge in all the holiday foods. If he was feeling well he would have had such a full belly the entire time he was home. I felt so bad for the poor boy. He loves to eat so much and could barely keep anything in.
I already miss him terribly. It was just last night that we said goodbye to each other. This time it was particularly hard because nobody knows when we will see him again. I couldn't hold it in. I even cried on him the night before because I knew he was leaving soon. Since Anthony is a manly man he doesn't cry...or so he would like to say. When he sees me cry I can see his eyes slowly become glassy. He tries to hold it in for sake of keeping together his manly man-ness. Since I'm a woman I am naturally emotional and just let it all flow out. I was really upset that he had to go back. Then, this morning, something strange happened. I woke up and was not upset. Anthony's visit had been filed away as the past. It was as if he was already back in SC. I wanted to be terribly upset still. It was as if my mind was already back in the setting of Anthony not being home. I had my cry-fest the night he left, especially after he pulled away from my house, waving as he went along. I could still feel his hugs and kisses but I did not shed another tear. I guess somehow, overnight, I accepted reality and moved forward with it even though Anthony was still just twenty minutes away packing up his car.
When I think about it for a moment I can remember what it felt like to wake up in Jersey with Anthony next to me. I can remember driving us from one relative's house to another. I can remember all the things we did and how wonderful it felt to have him home. I can even feel his warmth and his touch if I think hard enough. I can remember how much it hurt to watch him drive away, knowing there was nothing I could do to make him never leave again. Then I go back to my state of mind where this new life is an acceptable way to live. Where two people with a great relationship can survive being so far apart. Where couples who argue can still see each other everyday and yet we cannot. It truly isn't fair but it is what makes us different. It is what will make us stronger. I had never smiled so much than in the past five days.
I hope you have all heard about the TV show on ABC called Last Resort. I've been watching it faithfully every Thursday at 8pm. If you don't watch or haven't heard, the show is about a Navy sub commanded by a character named Captain Marcus Chaplain. In the very first episode the sub was given strike orders to hit the Pakistan with a nuclear missile. The orders came over an unauthorized channel and were questioned by the captain who then did not act on them. This display of treason, as many are calling it, caused the sub to be fired at by another US Navy submarine. The USS Colorado, a fictional submarine manned by Captain Chaplain and his crew, is forced to then retreat to a nearby island for protection. There they commodore a NATO station for means of communication with the rest of the world. The crew, as you can imagine, is very restless about what is going on and many of them do not wish to continue with their captain. The "XO", or Lieutenant Commader, Sam Kendal, is another closely followed character in the story. He has a wife, Christine, who faithfully stands by her husband and defends him against the ugly face of the press. There is a wide array of other characters that are part of the story, including a team of Navy SEALs that were picked up by the sub shortly before it was given the strike order.
Let me just tell you I am completely hooked on this show. I'm so mad that it will be ending soon, too! It was cancelled after, I assume, poor ratings. Episode ten of the only thirteen will air this coming Thursday. Then again, this show did make me want to cry on several occasions and gave me heart palpitations. I loved the inside look at the Navy's chain of command and how then run things. Though, I'm sure everything is a bit skewed so that the real Navy doesn't get mad at ABC for displaying their operations to every television in America. I so love following the story of the XO and his wife. There is so much I could tell you about this show we could be here for hours. I'll keep it short, though. There are so many little things going on that you have to pay attention too. There's Captain Chaplain and his family sorrows of losing his own son in the middle east, the French woman who runs the NATO station and her crush on the XO, the Navy SEALs and their shady mission, the current islanders that oppose the coming of the Navy, and more.
I will definitely miss this show when it is finishes up in January. I'm so upset that I will never find out the end of the story and what happens to the Captain and his crew. Especially the XO and his wife. Captain Chaplain is a good example for us all. He stands for what it right and won't just take any order unless he knows it is right. This touches upon what I mentioned before when Anthony's class got their grades screwed. The Navy doesn't want free thinkers like Marcus Chaplain, they want loyal followers. It is so obvious that they had to make an entire television series showing America what really happens when you don't do as you're told. Not to mention, how when one man makes a decision it affects the lives of thousands of people. Captain Chaplain is making a point by planting himself on this island. He is standing up for everything in the world that is right and just.
Hello friends. How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was pretty good. Family, food, and far too many deserts...thought thats never a bad thing. It is only once a year anyway. Amongst all the food and loud family conversation were thoughts of a lonely sailor. Where is he on this most family-oriented day? Is he in the galley having dinner with other sailors? Did a family on base have him over? An answer would soon be given. It was around the nine o'clock hour when the call came. Just a normal phone call like any other day. After some time and no voluntary information I asked, "What did you do for Thanksgiving?" He replied, "A couple buddies and me went to Denny's." At first my heart sank. A diner on Thanksgiving? What a shame. Then I though about it for a minute. Well, he didn't have to eat galley food, he got served his dinner and had no clean up, and he had some company. Doesn't really sound too bad, especially since he got to have some of the apple pie I made for him. I brought it down on our last trip to SC just for this reason.
At least Anthony had a decent turkey dinner with all the fix-ins. That makes me feel better. What makes me feel even better are the plans for Christmas leave! I'll get to attend Anthony's family functions and he will attend mine without missing hardly a thing. He will be taking a flight out of Myrtle Beach right to Philly, just across the bridge from his family and me. I'm so very excited for him to come home. It's going to be bizarre seeing him in his home setting. It's been quite awhile since I've seen him in normal situations. I plan to make him dinner at least one and try to have a sleep over or two. I find it hard to make too many plans because I want Anthony to have more time with his family. He has a rather large family who has not seen him since he left. I, on the other hand, have seen him a few times. I feel it's only fair to share with the rest of his family. Though don't be surprised if you see me on his left arm at every turn.
Recently, Anthony had been a little whiny about the Navy and how much he doesn't like certain aspects and blah blah. I always tell him that he signed up for it. It is at no fault of anyone else. However, I do my best to keep his head up. I tell him how much we all love him and how we're proud of him. All that good inspirational stuff. Though, the other day, things had taken an unhealthy turn. He starting talking about psychological effects of what he's going through. At this point I was a little edgy about this topic. I had had my fill of Anthony's complaints for that week so I didn't give much soothing conversation. Later on I felt bad. Anthony needs nothing but encouragement, no matter how sick and tired of his whining I may be. The next night, almost as if I had rehearsed it, I gave him the best encouragement speech to date. I went on about how much farther ahead in life he is that normal 22-year-old males. I listed for him everything he had going for him and how little normal men his age have. It really worked. His spirits were clearly lifted.
