Stories From Under A Bootheel (Rants, Laughs, and Tears)

Chapter 9 Out from Under the Bootheel Part 2 A Proposal

 After OTS, I went to Navigator training in Sacramento California where after a month, I had a stroke that completely paralyzed my left side. I recovered full movement within another month, but because of the stroke, I was prohibited from flying status.  

My dream of being a navigator on an FB-111 was over. The reason for wanting that position on that plane is that sometimes the pilot would let the navigator take the controls. There was only one FB-111 billet given to our class and my good friend Doug ended up getting it.

The only thing I got to fly after my stroke was a hang glider. Even though I could no longer be part of a flight crew, the Air Force insisted I finish four years of my commitment to them using my engineering degree. They transferred me across town to the air logistics center at McClellan Air Force Base and put me in the division responsible for of the logistic engineering for all the CEM (Communications Electronics and Meteorological) equipment in the Air Force west of the Mississippi. I was given the responsibility for the meteorological systems.  

It was at McClellan I met my friend Gary who convinced me to take hang gliding lessons on weekends at a place near Bodega bay on the coast. After we had learned the basics, I convinced his girlfriend and future wife to come with us assuring her it was perfectly safe. She broke her finger landing her first time and never went back. Gary got even with me. He was partially responsible for getting me together with my future wife. Well, maybe we aren't quite even. He works for NASA now and he did send me some really nice photographs of rocket launches.

Considering the number of times that I crashed my hang glider; it is probably just as well I never got to take the controls of a jet. Crashing the hang glider so often did teach me all the things to do when things go wrong. There are advantages to learning the hard way. On the day of our final exam for our Hang-one rating, the predominant winds had shifted directions which literally put all my class mates in a tail spin. Since I was used to things going wrong, I got the best and longest flight of the day!

As I mentioned, I was introduced to the love of my life during this period. Several of the guys I worked with, had told me I should check out this hot chick who worked over in engineering drawings.

One morning, I finally came up with an excuse to go over and have some drawings pulled. Unfortunately, my drawings were on the ground equipment side and she worked on the aircraft side. Still, another mutual friend T.J. was there at the time and he went out of his way to introduce us. I sometimes think the entire base was conspiring to get us together. That first introduction was really brief and accomplished little. The evening after that awkward introduction my friend Gary told me he was going to ask her out.

After they had gone on a couple of dates, Gary suggested that I should ask her out. He was getting over a recent divorce and confided in me that he was not ready for a serious relationship. I told him neither was I and she was definitely the type of girl I'd end up marrying.

I finally did ask her out. On our third date I informally asked her to marry me. I think I said something like, "We are probably going to end up married; so, how do you want to do this?" Romance is not my strong suit. She graciously declined.

She did say I could try again in a few months. To me it seemed inevitable, and I really was in no hurry. In November we went hiking. By December I had met her parents. At the Division Christmas party, I think we were both sure where this was going. For her birthday in early March, I took her to the fanciest restaurant in town and came up with a more romantic proposal. I suggested we get married on my birthday at the end of April to make it easy for me to remember our anniversaries. She said no way — could she put together a wedding that quickly. We were married in June on Father's Day. Unfortunately for me, unlike my birthday, Father's Day does not fall on the same date every year, but I haven't forgotten one yet. (Kids, the most important factor in compatibility is shared values. Your grandmother and I had those to the max. On top of that, she really was hot. And the cherry on top of that, she actually wanted to marry me. After forty-three years, this marriage may work out.)

It was the summer after I finished my commitment to the Air Force that we married. That Fall she supported me as I went back to school at the University of California and got my master's degree. There is where I met Clark of the wry sense of humor. Clark and I were both Air Force vets working on our advanced degrees. Clark began working part time for a consulting company in the bay area which he and I eventually joined full time. Clark bore a striking resemblance to Clark Kent of the Superman comics. So much so that kids would come up to him and ask if he was Superman. Of course, Clark would smile and assure them that in fact he was. The fact Clark is normally very serious, gives his humor that much more impact. If you really want to experience his humor just open a bottle of Retsina, his favorite wine. It tastes like turpentine, but Clark's humor is worth it.

After getting our master's degrees, Clark and I went to work for the consulting firm providing a variety of services to a variety of agencies in the intelligence community. All of which I can't say anything about.

My wife and I moved to San Jose and having waited two years before trying to have kids, we decided to try. There was no try to it. If I looked at her without protection, she got pregnant. We had two kids Joe and Liz barely eighteen months apart.

The company I worked for opened a branch office in Maryland and we moved back there to help get it going. We lived there for five years, then back to San Jose where our third, unexpected and final Child Jake was born. Yes, I know, how could it be unexpected? One slip up in nine years? Clearly, Jake was meant to be.