Ranger School Graduation: Part One

thankfully, i was able to get off work at the last minute and go to ranger school graduation. getting there meant riding 15 hours from pennsylvania to columbus, georgia with lance's parents. ha. no one can say i am not adventurous, that's for sure.

we left right after work on thursday at 5pm and drove through the night, arriving at the gates just in time to wait in line to enter. some people were decked to the hilt and others wore jeans or sweats. the whole gamut, with me in the middle of that spectrum looking disheveled and like i rolled out of bed because i'd literally just finished a road trip, but still wearing a dress i changed into at a gas station.

as soon as we got our seats i was squinting to figure out which one of the bald-headed camo-wearing soldiers was mine. they looked like clones and the camo caps that hide half of their face weren't helping. lance's parents didn't seem nearly as desperate to find him in the sea of faces and were busy chatting with some family friends anyway, who happened to be there for their son/grandson's graduation too. one of those crazy the-world-is-so-small things.

a few people were walking down closer to where the graduates were sitting to take pictures, so i followed suit and went over with my camera. i tried to methodically scan every face in each row to find lance and finally there he was! standing up, waving and laughing at me.

i started laughing realizing he had been able to see me that whole time and i must have looked ridiculous and hilarious as i searched for him and waved at the wrong guys several times before finally figuring out which one was him.

later when i asked him how long it took him to find me in the crowded bleachers he laughed and said, "i saw you as soon as you walked in."

i found it hilarious that he kept telling me i smelled so good, because i felt like a sweaty mess, but i guess after that many months in the wilderness with a bunch of dudes and wild animals i would smell pretty good.

ranger school graduation is said to be one of the coolest military graduations and while i have nothing to compare it to, i thought it was awesome. the first 45 minutes are demonstrations - guys rappelling off walls, crazy explosions, jujitsu, jumping out of helicopters, walking across really high beams across the lake, shimmying across really high ropes across the lake or doing pullups up there, etc.

i know, i know, my use of technical terms and explanations is astounding. ask lance for the real details. he would probably also explain that those demos are pretty much child's play and not the real deal with what they actually do in combat. quite comforting (sarcasm font) considering i thought the entire presentation was pretty intense and wild. (aside from the narration, because that reminded me of the diving show at dutch wonderland.)

next was the formal ceremony, and all i remember is the keynote speaker saying to the graduates, "i remember being in your shoes at graduation and thinking, 'when is this guy going to shut up so i can go get a steak and a beer?' so i'll keep it brief ..." lance was vigorously shaking his head.

several adorable world war two vets attended and were recognized for their service. i would have liked to chat with all of them.

everything about the graduation filled me with respect for lance, respect for everyone who serves their country, and respect for all of our elders and forefathers who did so much to make the united states the great country that it is.

in the middle of election season when i see and hear so much fear and division and hatred, it felt good to be somewhere that everyone at least seemed united and filled with pride. and with good reason. our guys had just finished one of the most intensive military training schools. about 130 guys were graduating from a class that started out with more than 400. (way to go babe! i am so proud of you.)

finally it was time for pinning on the ranger tabs, and i practically ran out of the bleachers and on to the field to lance. if there are words that can actually describe how good it feels to see the person you love more than anything else and be wrapped in his arms after five months of being apart, i don't have them. but it is somewhere between the happiest day of your life and heaven.

not surprisingly, i could not get the tab pinned and it was taking me so long that he finally just pinned it onto his uniform himself. a few quick pictures and hugs and he had to hurry off to get orders before we all left together.

the rest of the weekend was wonderful. we had clear sunny skies with a light breeze, no humidity and temps in the 70s and 80s (i've been writing a lot of weather stories at work, can ya tell?) which is my ideal weather. i appreciated it even more than usual considering i was in georgia, where i'm used to crazy hot and humid weather.

his parents took us out for a celebration dinner that night at one of our favorite restaurants in columbus. lance lost about 20 pounds during school, which is a lot for someone who was all muscle with no fat on his body, so he had a lot of recovery to do as he came out of starvation mode. he let himself eat whatever he wanted to all weekend, even though he is really antsy to get back in shape.

like on saturday morning for breakfast, he had three large red velvet pancakes, an omelet, hashbrowns, english muffin and coffee. and after i ate one of my pancakes and couldn't finish the other two, he finished those for me. maybe that's not a ton of food to some people, but it is to me, especially because he is so healthy and rarely, if ever, eats junk like red velvet pancakes.

we went to artwalk downtown, picked out wedding rings, checked out places to live, shopped, got sushi (he had about 50 pieces...!), looked at puppies at the pet store, and went back to the spot by the river where we got engaged and talked for hours. perfection.