Warm Fuzzies

I remember when I learned that in some countries there are professional mourners who will come to your "event"...for a fee...and mourn their heads off. Weeping, wailing and the such. Just so practical and weird. We need crying...hire a bunch of PMSing ladies and hand them $20...done! But, I don't even have to be paid..I cry a lot...and I take a lot of pictures...two things I did today at a very special military ceremony. Tears I didn't expect.

I attend a lot of military ceremonies. You have your usual suspects: Change of Command, Change of Responsibility, Casing of the Unit Colors, Uncasing of the Colors, Transfer of Authority, Promotions, Re-Enlistments, Activations, De-Activations, Pity Parties....okay I'm kidding...I was just checking to see if you were really reading. My point is that we stay busy with pomp and circumstance, protocol and parties here in the Army. All of these things have a set "way to do it"...but what they cannot predict is how these ceremonies will affect you. I've cried, yawned, made grocery lists, made fun of people in my head (so NOT cool), jumped out of my seat at canon blasts, smiled, wondered why the speaker wrote that particular speech, watched soldiers faint and fall out of formation...but mainly I just soak in the whole thing like a sponge. I love the prayers and the national anthems (we play the German and the ....hand over your heart...American national anthems) the soldiers, the flags...I am such a corn ball. The other day, I went to a unique ceremony...we de-activated our precious Rear-Detachment (A.K.A "The Angels who did not deploy with our husbands....the angels who dealt with everything on the home front...the ones who kept us sane and informed for almost 2 years of our lives!), Activated the Rear-Detachment for our sister battalion and then did a good old fashioned "Change of Command" ceremony on a company level. Whew...that's a mouth full. With so much going on in our little army world and so many ceremonies that NEED and MUST be performed...2 awesome captains decided to combine all of the elements they could to save people from extra outings.

Hang in here with me...

I had the pleasure of serving the 44thESB as the Battalion Family Readiness Leader. Which loosely translates to..."These kids are acting crazy!!! Somebody take charge here!". Military wives are as diverse as the soldiers they are married to. Some wives are quiet....others are obnoxious. They come from awesome backgrounds/childhoods...some come from unimaginable circumstances. They are 16 years old....they are 45 years old. We've got our hands full when the soldiers are home...they get a little more full when they are deployed. So, for 15 months we all went on with our lives while "the guys" were deployed and went through some pretty interesting things together. Many days...the Rear-D was my lifeline. We became close...so to see that little morsel of 44th deactivate - it was sad. As they say "hello" to new leadership - they give yellow roses to the incoming commander's wife.....the outgoing wife gets red roses. From friendship to luv - the military is a hoot. Our outgoing gal is married...but to a guy....who is deployed...so no red roses for him. Heather (CPT Gunther to 44th) decided to give red roses to her momma (who had flown in from VA)....and then to me and our FRG assistant......which sent my already emotionally fragile self into tears. I thought of how much comfort I had when I saw CPT Gunther's "guide on" (the flag flying outside the battalion...which signified she was in her office) posted outside headquarters.....and how many times I pulled into afore mentioned HQ to unload my own burden on her because it was too much that day. I thought about all of the Burger King coffee we had shared....and the tears we cried....and the laughter.....LOTS of laughter...just to keep FROM crying. CPT Gunther started out as our "Rear Detachment Commander" and became my friend. Cool...

When they pass the guide on...it looks hysterically S-L-O-W

because they are saying sweet nuthin's to each other. I

always wonder what those little whispers are...but it's not nice to ask...

So...warm fuzzies....from the national anthems....the soldiers in formation...the passing of the guideon (it represents the passing of power)...the prayers....the ceremony and protocol and tradition....it all just makes me happy. Happy to be an army wife and happy that being an army wife has given me the chance to meet awesome people like our "Rear-D" team.

"This is FRG 6 and 44th Rear Detachment...signing out..."