Bekah v. Life Change

Tonight I packed up 27 years of my father's life. Tomorrow is his last day as the Vice Commander of the Air Force Weather Agency. Tomorrow is his last day of military service to the United States Air Force. I pulled pictures and plaques off the wall, some of tours I remembered, some of those I had only heard of. Put a scrapbook of Desert Storm in a box and as I picked it up I caught a glimpse the yellow and red, white & blue ribbons that had been pulled off the small flags that my mom, sister and I were waving when he hopped off of that truck and walked across the airstrip when he returned from war. The various coffee cups he's collected as gifts from units he's led and been a part of were piled into another box with his Jelly Belly jelly bean dispenser as well as his subwoofer and speakers that he swears can rock out any room. It's time like these, the promotions, the changes of command, the retirements, that I really learn about my Father, the Colonel. The troop he led into Iraq during Desert Storm, his time in Somalia, the various leadership positions he's held, pretty much his character as 'the Colonel,' because I don't see that side of him at home.

The next two weeks are going to be a lot tougher for me than I think I'd initially imagined. Because despite the fact that I am not a member of the military, this is my retirement too, and essentially my excommunication from an exclusive club -- the military dependent club -- which coincidentally enough is pretty much the only thing I've ever known. It's hard to explain, and unless you too are a military dependent, quite honestly, you'd never understand. It's scary. But here's to being scared, here's to change, here's to a new beginning.