Coming and Going

There is one thing I really dislike about the military and now still living in a military community and that is having to constantly say good-bye to friends. Most people will come out here as part of the military and generally speaking will be stationed here for 3 years. I have been somewhat lucky in that the last really good friend I had leave was back in July 07 (my definition of a good friend would be somebody I stay in contact with after they have moved away). However, both Kimberly and Michaela will be leaving in the next 6 months or so and this makes me incredibly sad. I already don't make friends easily. It takes me a while to warm up to people and vice-versa and frankly, I am pretty picky about who I let myself get close to. Then when you add husbands, kids and busy lives, it's just plain hard.

It didn't used to seem to be that difficult. When we were in Okinawa Japan for a year at Joe's first duty station, we bonded with the people around us fairly quickly. For most of us this was such a new and unique experience and we were not only away from family but in a foreign country. We spent a lot of time together including holidays and we made some really good friends there.

But another thing you learn about the military, and particularly with the Marine Corps is that it is a small world and there is a good chance that down the line you will run into a lot of the same people. Since being here in 29 Palms we have had the good fortune of having two of our friends from Okinawa come here for extended training and in both cases we immediately fell back into being the best of friends. Scottie was one of those friends and he is not only close to Joe and I, but has always been a favorite of our rotty Utah, as well as someone Jake took an immediate liking to when he was still very ill at ease around others. We consider Scottie, although a grown adult, to be one of Jake's first friends. Here are some pics of there time together when Jake was between 12 and 18 months old:



Here is Scottie teaching Jake how to kick back and drink beer:

We even managed to make him an Angels fan while he was here (and yes he is actually going to kill me for posting this picture. All I have to say is that he VERY lucky the pictures I have of our time in Okinawa were not digital):

Here are the guys during our annual October trip to the beach at Pendleton:

And saying good-bye, happy birthday and Merry Christmas with Scottie before he moved on to his next duty station. The celebration was complete with a Blue Clues cake, which was a favorite past time that Jake and Scottie shared together (that was until later when a devasted Scottie found out that Blue is actually a female):

Saying good-bye is hard but it is with great pleasure that I announce that Scottie has once again returned to 29 Palms, only this time he is here for 3 years and this time he comes happily married to the love of his life Ali and we could not happier for them or for us. Because friends like this are hard to find.