BYE BYE GABE.... and the debate, Part III

This is the bus that took my boy off to become a man and a soldier.  And yes, I cried.  Not in front of him, but as the bus was pulling away.  I felt kind of like I did on his first day of school 15 years ago, watching the school bus pulling away, and wanting to run after it...  I'm so dang proud of him, but I'm so scared too. 

Let me explain my fears to anyone who may not understand.  Its basic training, boot camp... not war, so I shouldn't be worried, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't be.  But in July of 2000 we bid a very dear family friend farewell as he headed off for boot camp.  He and Gabe were hunting buddies and were very close.   Before he could complete basic training  my husband was sent to escort him home... in a casket.  The military determined that he had an undiagnosed mental condition although he had complained several times over the phone to his family of a severe sunburn on his head that was untreated.  His life ended through an open window.

Gabe will be fine, he's a strong young man, as was our friend.  It was just a series of incidents that caused the tragedy, and yet the memories torment me now as my son embarks on the same path.  Its going to be a long 9 weeks.  I'm sure I'm bound to get some sleep sometime along the way.

I watched the debate with my husband.  The effects of my medication had begun to wear off and I got real grumpy and decided that despite the valiant efforts of his make-up artist, Kerry still looked scary.  I got a piece of paper and covered the top half of the tv screen so all I could see were his hands.... which were constantly moving... waving, pointing with the thumb, going up and down, sidewards.... AGH!  STOP IT!

And the President actually did pretty good, except when he would get surprised by a question and stammered like a shy school boy giving an oral presentation to a snickering classroom.  A couple of times I wanted to smack him on the back and yell 'Spit it out boy!'. 

All in all it was a very good debate, probably the best of them all.  And the best answer came from the President when asked what the most important thing was that he had learned from the strong women in his life (his wife and daughters).  "To listen to them?" he replied and it really came out more as a question than a statement.  I'm sure he was looking right at the First Lady when he said that, waiting for her to toss him a Scooby snack.   That will be the line I remember most when thinking about Bush.  For my Kerry Quote, it would have to be "I have a Plan!"  (actually he has two plans, one for now and one for later....)