It has now been just over a week since I returned from a visit to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to see Scott, and anyone who has been reading this blog will guess who
that is.
SO much has happened in the last week and I really I wish I had finished this post as soon as I got back…or even whilst I was there. I am going to attempt to continue it as if that was the case, to have the feelings and the events of the visit recorded without them being coloured by the horrible things that have happened in this past week.
When, or if, I feel stronger I will fill the interweb in on the horrible stuff….or should I save it for a book???
The run up to my trip was full of stops and starts and a logistics nightmare! I was a basket case by the time I got on the plane, facing a dodgy connection in Atlanta, and to top it all off
both Scott and I had been sick the previous week, phone calls full of sniffs and coughs, shivers and talk of Zycam. But standing at the baggage carousel in Fayetteville and turning to find him striding towards me, massive grin on his face, eyes glowing, huge bunch of flowers in his hand, followed by that lift-you-off-your-feet-swing-you-around hug…it was suddenly all behind me and I felt as I had the very first time. I was finally home! And I had a whole week to spend with him…YIPEE!
Even finding out, in the first 5 minutes, that he had been called to Camp Atterbury in Indiana for the following day due to a scheduling mistake couldn’t dampen our spirits…
even realizing that I would be STUCK because I couldn’t drive the car around the next day…I mean
seriously, can’t you guys drive on the proper side of the road, or have all the stuff on the correct side of the car at least?????
We stopped in an Irish sports bar (which I found really familiar with all the rugby pictures around) for dinner and drinks and spent a couple of hours catching up, finally face to face, playing footsie and grabbing at each other’s hands across the table like a couple of teenagers! We then went to find a motel since there was no point in going to Bragg considering his 5AM flight the next morning. At the Holiday Inn Motel little were we to know how much we should have appreciated the massive bed and luxurious bathroom…why, you ask?…you’ll see!
(Photo is actually from Olive Garden later in the week but can you spell 'artistic license'?)
After practically NO sleep he sleep-walked me out to the car at 3:45AM and with the help of some OJ from an en route gas station I finally woke up enough to realize that we had not made time for me to practice the USAnian
stooooopid way of driving. So it was decided to leave the car at the airport, I would cab it back in order to sleep until check out time and wing it til it was time to meet him again at the airport.
Where did I end up?
YUP! Hooters. It was the only place the friendly hotel bellman could find that I could just hang with internet service, food, drinks later and, bonus: smoking! The waitresses took one look at my Bermuda driving license and I showed them the photos on the laptop and suddenly I had 3 new best friends! Made it nicer for me as the place filled with a rotating door of bunch after bunch of rowdy soldiers in for lunch from Bragg…probably wondering who the old chic was that the waitresses kept going back to chat to…I must have looked like some sort of Madame with her clutch of orange-mini-shorted ‘girls’!
Another bonus was getting another lovely airport greeting…his grin even bigger and more relaxed with the Indiana headache out of the way. We grabbed some beers and snacks and finally headed on to Fort Bragg.
Arriving in our room we took one look and there was total silence. Two single beds. Finally Scott said “Well, we’ll just have to try them both and see which one is more comfortable.” We didn’t, we just picked the one nearest the bathroom and with the best view of the TV!…added the pillows from the other bed and threw off the nasty polyester bedspread to replace it with Scott’s “woobie”….Army tech-speak for blankie! It was bloody cold in North Carolina and I kinda fell in love with the woobie, especially as the heating didn’t work AT ALL, not even in the bathroom!!!
For the rest of the week Scott was busy all day with classes, briefings, and meetings so I occupied myself by visiting the on-base museums and joining the front-of-building-smoking-club and made a few more friends! We hadn’t realized that I wouldn’t be able to buy anything on-base at all without his military ID, so there was a bit of stress, I mean, a girl’s gotta eat for crying out loud! And shop!!! Luckily the museum gift shops were happy enough to take my money and Scott was happy enough to take me off-base each evening to wander around book stores together, or try on silly Easter hats in Target, kick my ass at bowling, grab some food or drinks, whatever…we were happy even when we were completely lost a few times!
We found ourselves back in our room by about 10PM each evening so we could just chill, cuddled up in our little twin bed (did I mention it was FREEZING there?), talking and laughing and watching inane TV, sharing a couple of beers or a bottle of wine, and finally dozing off only to wake a few hours later to…erm….talk some more. Every morning saw us up at 5 for, well, more talking of course, and then Scott might go for a run…who am I kidding, that happened only on the first morning! It was WAY too nice to spend the early hours curled up together. Yes,
of course talking!
On Friday I was leaving in the late afternoon but Scott didn’t think he could get away from his last class early enough to see me off. Being thoroughly true to myself, and terribly unsure of how to deal with my feelings, I picked a fight with him! Can you imagine??? Never fear, he realized my frustration and held me, letting me cry it out and then…well, then we made up, naturally!
I went downstairs to see him off for his day as it looked like this was going to be goodbye. Oh dear….TEARS!!! And what did he want? A photograph of course! I protested as he searched for my camera in my pocket but he said “Don’t worry, keep your sunglasses on. You’ll look like Jackie O and I already know how beautiful your eyes are anyway.” Aw.
I then spent the day roaming the area around the Lodgings, chatting with my new buddies, packing my junk, and messaging back and forth with Scott about how things were looking for him to get back in time. Finally I gave up and showered and just as I was drying my hair I heard fumbling at the door…and there he was! With a whole hour and a half to spend together. Blessings come in these small things.
We spent it curled up on the bed again, chatting and laughing and cuddling and as we had throughout the trip, talked about when he might be able to come to visit me in Bermuda…our mantra being “If not before, 2010 babe, July 2010!”
When he finally put me in the cab, he begged me just to smile and I managed it til the we had pulled away. Lucky the driver has been through this before many times! Through the drive, the flight, the overnight in Atlanta, and finally the flight to Bermuda I clutched one of the things he had given me through the week, a little child’s bouncy ball with a tank in the background and a miniature action figure of a soldier with a rifle….supposed to represent him. I don’t think it has been off my person since.
Two days after I left Ft. Bragg Scott left for Afghanistan.
