I looked like this the night before my military career started.
I hope I make the transition out more smoothly!
Since August of 2007, this blog has been my external memory
about life as a very old soldier. Next
year, that phase of my life will come to an end. To that end, I decided to start writing about
all of my life, not just the Army part of it.
When I started this blog, rejoining the Army was a wide-eyed
adventure for me. It was a strange
journey I could share with friends and family.
It turns out that many more people started reading my posts to get an
idea of Army life. Especially when I was
in Iraq, I could provide a view of life for soldiers families that the soldiers
themselves would not.
Beginning in July, I will start unraveling my identity. This journey is in some ways more scary than
becoming a soldier at 54. Beginning in
July of this year, I will no longer be employed full time. If the arrangement I proposed is accepted, I
will become a consultant, working just two days a week at what is currently my
full-time job.
I have worked full time since my senior year of high
school. From age twelve to seventeen, I
worked full-time in the warehouse where my father worked during the
summers. Since 1970, I have collected
unemployment twice for two weeks each time.
Full-time worker, either blue-collar or professional, is how I see
myself.
Will I survive part-time work? It seems like a great thing: more time to read, write, ride, run and
swim.
I will be the primary parent for the boys. Will that be my identity?
Unless by some miracle I am extended again, I will leave the
Army National Guard in May 2015 with 18 years an no retirement. Even if I stay for 20, the arcane retirement
rules may leave outside of the retirement system.
Right now I shave every morning and cut my hair “high and
tight” and do not have to think about growing a beard. Not allowed.
What happens when I am a civilian and all things are possible. Will I be a weird old guy with an Army
haircut? Grow my hair, a beard?
Will I return to being a bicycle racer? I have a license. I still ride.
Will I have enough time to ride 10,000 miles per year and become
(somewhat) competitive again? When I
rode that much, I was not in the Army, I didn’t run, or swim or do much of
anything (for exercise) except ride.
When I work part time, I will be writing, but only those two
days a week. I could write more. I will be a civilian. I could write about anything. Would writer be my identity? I am a writer now because I get paid to do
it. I would like to write with no
commercial purpose. Right now I am on a
plane listening to a crew member read a script about why I should sign up for a
SkyMiles credit card. I could have
written that. I don’t want to.
After today, I will write about all the rest of my life on
what is an Army blog, because many things I do for the next year will be part
of the transition out of camouflage and into spandex and denim.
So you will hear more about my wife and kids and
friends. I will still write about the
Army stuff. This year in particular, I plan to write about more soldiers during
summer camp.
