I think everyone in the military has someone in either boot camp or "A" school (or tech school or whatever it's called for whatever branch) that they meet & have feelings for.
Aside from my sweet Army boy (read about him here), there was an Air Force boy in "A" school that also captured my heart.
I met him on the smoke deck. He had these deep blue eyes that seemed endless & looked like the boy next door. He talked about music like I did (do). I've not encountered many people with the same passion for the same bands.
We'd smoke & talk & act cool, like most 18-19 year old kids do. Who knows what the heck kept us entertained for so long but we spent a lot of time together. I'd drink my pink Sobe (by the way, if you google images for "pink sobe" some pretty crazy stuff comes up) & smoke my Newports while we talked about Dave Matthews Band or Daft Punk or whatever else was in at the time.
He'd leave me little notes at the front desk of my barracks, wishing me luck on a test or saying hi (this was before cell phones & text messaging, obviously)...
One night at a park, drinking underage (I plead the fifth on who supplied it), we walked down this path together & I could hear Dave Matthew's 'Stay (Wasting Time)' playing in the background. He kissed me & I decided (like I did with most boys until I ACTUALLY meant it with Tony) that he & I were meant to be.
Coincidentally, he had the same first name as Boyfriend #3. I'd call him "..... #2" which is both ridiculous & hilarious now... I was such a child.
When I got orders, I found out I was transferring to England. I was beyond excited. He ended up going to Ohio.
I think I knew in my heart that he & I weren't going to make it, but then again we'd never "officially" dated either. We exchanged a few letters after I left, but it wasn't until 7 years later that I talked to him again.
Thanks to him, I developed my love for DMB. I'd liked them prior to us meeting, but I LOVED them after.
I found him on myspace, of all places. Remember myspace? Before facebook? Haha, I tracked him down years later when I was stationed in South Carolina & we got back in touch. About 6 months later (making it 8 years since I'd seen him), I took a trip to see my beloved friend Brandy (from "A" school, who was in the class with the Army boy). She lived a few hours away from him so we went to visit him.
It was ridiculous, the whole thing, looking back on it. I did some crappy things to an amazing friend & I'd take it all back if I could considering how much of a loser he turned out to be. I love you, Brandy.
I wanted to be with him. He looked different in the fact that he'd gained some weight & had facial hair, but he still had those eyes & I still liked attention so I went for it. But he also had a deep love for marijuana, which, honestly, I think is pitiful. When it so consumes your life that you can't go a day or two without it, there's a problem. He bitched about my smoking, but at least it wasn't illegal, ha.
I didn't do what a good friend would do & deep down, I knew it. I was more interested in the attention from him & by this time, I was 26 & I was ready to settle down. I was tired of being single & getting my heart broken so I was more interested in devoting my attention to him than giving it to my friend who'd been there for me FOREVER. & it stinks looking back now, because we're friends again but it'll never be the same. It breaks my heart that I chose something so ridiculous over a friendship. That said, it takes two & I'm not saying she wasn't to blame either, but the bulk of the burden is on me. It still makes me sad.
But anyway.
We decided to keep in touch- I even bought a plane ticket to go see him two months later. I never ended up using that plane ticket though, because about two weeks after I got back from that trip, I started dating my future husband.
But I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. I've still got EIGHT years of relationships to tell before I get to him...
& for your listening enjoyment, a song about our military school loves:
No comments:
Post a Comment