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    Sunday, September 09, 2007

    Hero

    I made it home from Indianapolis last night. On my way home my friend, Stacy, texts me to come over to he mother's house to see her 21 year old nephew, Nick, who is home on leave from Iraq. He's been gone for 11 months and in that time he has been hit by roadside bombs twice. I felt very strongly about going to see him to hug him and tell him how much I appreciate what he does for me and my country every single day.

    As soon as I got there, he ran up and hugged me and told me how gorgeous I was (blush). He and my younger cousin are good friends and had had lunch. My cousin told him that I'd lost a lot of weight. He looked so grown up and buff. I remember changing his diaper for God's sake. So now I'm feeling like a dirty old woman with lustful thoughts of my best friend's nephew.

    We sat around and ate and everyone else drank, a lot. Several girls were hanging around Nick. They invited him to a party with all of his old high school friends. Nick was torn since he wanted to spend time with the family so he invited us old folk to come to the party. I decided to go since I was the only one who hadn't been drinking, and drive them all. Even Stacy's mom went.

    At this point, it was dark. The party was about a mile off the road on a single lane that I could have used four wheel drive to get down. It was low and full of sticks and mud. I barely made it through.

    We parked in a field and walked through a muddy mess to get to a spot in the woods where there was a large fire pit surrounded by tiki torches. There were about 20 kids, I say kids because they were all 21 (at least I hope they were). Boy did I feel old!

    It was interesting to watch Nick interact with his friends that hadn't seen him in almost a year. They didn't know what to say to him. After all, they were still the same people stuck in the same little town and Nick has been all over the world, nearly dying so that they had the freedom to sit around a camp fire and drink beer.

    Nick also had a tough time because he is so shell shocked that he flinches at any moving object and the fire especially bothered him. He told us how horrible the conditions are in Iraq. I can't imagine the atrocities that he has endured. The hardest part for him has to be that he has to go back to Iraq for 8 more weeks before getting a new assignment.

    We got Nick feeling pretty good and so was everyone else. I carried a beer around because people don't understand when someone's not drinking. They don't get it.

    There was a 50 foot grapevine hanging from the trees that many took turns swinging on. The drunker they got, the higher they swung.

    I enjoyed watching and observing. I've noticed that since losing weight, I spend so much less time worrying about what I look like, that I'm able to completely enjoy myself. I'm not thinking about people staring at me or whispering behind my back so I am able to drink in my complete surroundings and live in the moment. I feel like a completely different person in that aspect.

    Stacy and I spent a good part of the night wishing we were younger and single. Every woman, single or not, wants to flirt and feel wanted. They only time I got hit on was when an old guy (ok, he was my age) with a mullet came over and attempted to get me to smoke his cigarette. His shirt said, "Party Animal". He was the most pathetic person I've seen in a long time. I'm not really sure if he was someone's dad or not. He was almost old enough.

    I'd had enough of mullet man and rounded up the group. I hugged and kissed Nick (an old lady's got to try, right?) and told him to be safe. I delivered everyone else to their homes safe and sound and made it home in time to take advantage of my hormones with Mr. Sign.

    10 comments:

    snowelf said...

    Aww, this post totally made me want to cry!! That part about him being shell shocked totally got to me!

    I'm so glad you got the chance to see and hug Nick again!

    --snow

    Anonymous said...

    Ahh, I also felt like crying. How wonderful that you got a chance to hang with Nick and tell him how thankful you are for what he does. And even more special that this young man took the time to tell YOU that you looked beautiful!!!

    And yes, no matter what age...or your relationship status; every woman wants to be desired and flirted with:-)

    Thanks for sharing your evening!!!

    Anonymous said...

    P.S. Nick is a hottie:-)

    Mona said...

    I really feel for the boys out there. Such Incidents can really cause huge psychological problems. I just hope all this stupid fighting would end!!

    Jon said...

    Thanks for writing about Nick. I think the world needs constant reminders of what our young adults are going through in the war.

    8 more weeks doesn't seem long to us maybe, but I am sure it seems like an eternity to Nick. I hope he comes home safe.

    Oh, and you are looking marvelous!!!

    cadbury_vw said...

    i'm sad for Nick - that kind of trauma shouldn't be for anyone...

    i hope he can overcome his startle reflex. i worked with a vietnam vet (a guy who had actually been on the infamous hamburger hill). 'nuff said.

    on the dude's hotness and the dirty old woman thing - if you were a 30 some year old guy taking a good look at a hot 21 year old woman, do you think you would feel much remorse/anxiety (except for the changing diaper part...)

    it is so cool that you are engaging socially so much. i'm also glad that this sort of renewal of contact doesn't seem to be stirring too much anxiety in you

    oh - and i agree with Nick - you're hot!

    GAB said...

    Sweet! And very good looking guy to boot. And he is been out protecting us wtg. I love it.

    MilkMaid said...

    Thank you Nick.

    lime said...

    thank you to nick and all the other young men and women doing the same thing.

    and lucky mr. sign ;)

    Cha Cha said...

    First of all...

    I'm only two years younger than you are so stop calling yourself an OLD WOMAN already cos that makes ME old too!! Ugh!!

    Second of all...your friends' nephew is hot. But, I think that is like your thesis with this post. I'm just re-iterating.

    Tell him Strumpet said thank you for his continued service to this country and that with those guns, when his duty is up...he'll be cashin' in on all that hard work cos the chicks are gonna go NUTS!

    What a Charmer and a Hero...the full package.

    Ooo-rah.

    My own dad was a marine in Vietnam so I can sort of empathize with Nick's psychological ordeal with everything knowing what it all did to him to be there. My dad wasn't drafted, he volunteered, which is what the men and women involved in Iraq have done and that is something to be respected. They are there because they WANT to be there. It is something that calls in them to provide this service and it IS truly heroic.

    It is not just Nick's physical attributes and his charm that make him so stunningly beautiful, but this first and foremost.

    I'm glad you got to experience such a fun and great evening, Ms. Signaliciousness.

    Fuck what other people think, by the way, you don't want to drink--don't fucking drink dude. Why carry a beer around? Carry a club soda or orange juice or water or whatever it is that you DO like to imbibe and SCREW everyone else! You have a soldier telling you YOU'RE hot! That's all that matters! You ARE hot! It don't matter what drink you have in hand! There are days I don't drink. If anyone says anything...I just give 'em a look. Beer sucks anyway. I like wine or vodka. But, you know...I'm a lush. Hee.