dloase

Random Thoughts

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I'm sitting here in my cubical and just processing several random thoughts. One of these involves taking care of aging parents. Linda and my availability to camp is reduced greatly by the need to provide ongoing care for her 85 and 83 year old parents. Most of our weekends are spent taking care of their 7 acres and doing routine household upkeep that they cannot do. Of course that also ensures that I keep working to help provide for their extended care where their limited retirement income does not. Add that to the fact that neither of them can drive any longer (a good thing for the rest of us), our lives have become very busy. If it weren't for a local campground to which we have a membership our rig might not even get used this summer.

I was also reflecting on the past 37 years of my life. Last Friday, I have the privilege of participating in a Change of Command ceremony for a friend of mine. For those who are unaware or don't realize, the Coast Guard in the only armed service which allows it's enlisted members to become Officers in Charge. My friend assumed command of Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) Hampton Roads. His AOR includes the third busiest port on the East Coast and the largest Navy base. All of this and he is "only" an E7. That is more responsibility than many junior officers I have known over the last 37 years. Over the past 4 years, Linda and I have become surrogate parents and grandparents to his family. For those of you who have served, you understand how it feels to be stationed away from family and friends. We have been blessed to become part of their extended family, and I was as proud as an father would have been.

I also have been blessed with a wonderful job. I retired from active duty 11 years ago to take this position as a training specialist. I get to help train the next generation of weapon technicians on the finer points of weapon system maintenance and ordnance delivery. It takes a special sort of person who wants to do this job (the active duty one). It isn't the glamor job, it will never get you and OIC position. It is the only job that if you are called upon to preform real time, someone is going to die. If you do it well the "enemy" does, if you preform poorly, you and your shipmates die. It takes a special mental attitude to be able to accept that and preform to the best of your ability, especially when others, both inside the service and outside the service don't "get it". I promise they will never make a movie like Finest Hours about someone in the weapons field.

But that being said, I still have a wonder job where I get to work with some people I have known for over half of my life. I also get to come to work in a building that sits on the shores of the York river here in Virginia. Because of the hours that I work, I am in my office most mornings before 5:15. The benefit of that (aside from my choice of parking spaces) is that most mornings I get to see the sunrise over the York river. Most mornings I get treated to a view like I have attached.
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  1. WhittleBurner's Avatar
    Taking care of aging parents is a stress all it's own, add keeping up 2 properties and a job is physically tiring . But starting a day with a beautiful sunrise sure does help calm the soul.
    You`re very lucky to have a job you love . Thank you for your role in keeping us free

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