I woke early from a dream this morning....way too early. And I was so possessed with words for my blog that I turned on my light to write (my laptop sleeps in Eric's space in the bed for easy access). I dreamed I had gone back to college complete with two very young 18-year-old roommates and a loft bed. I was welcomed with open arms and even announced to them, "Let's get this straight..I'm 46..and I'm going to get my second degree and I hope we have a lot of fun together". To which the one girl said, "Oh, we knew you were older but not that old". And I was wearing a very short pair of shorts and had my 20-year-old legs...which is the only part of the dream I enjoyed. And in my now half-awakened state, I can tell you where this random dream came from. There are a lot of college kids returning home for the summer, I would love to get another degree, and I've been watching an old show on Netflix called thirtysomething. Remember that show? It was a show about baby boomers in their late thirties and premiered in the fall of 1987.
Netflix is the best $10 I spend a month for entertainment in the absence of my husband. I haven't seen this show since it ended. I never missed an episode from start to finish..remember those were the days just slightly pre-VCR and we didn't record anything let alone DVR anything. I was pleasantly surprised to see it on instant play and have spent the last couple of weeks watching an episode to help me drift off (sometimes Michael's skepticism and Hope's whining does get to me..funny how I don't remember that when I originally watched it).
The fall of 1987....interestingly enough I had 6-month old baby Brady and Hope had baby Janie even though I was 22 and she was well, thirtysomething. Eric had just been informed he was to report for AIT and within days he shipped to Georgia and missed his best friend, Bret's wedding. So it is no wonder I have found comfort watching it again now all these years later because it was something that kept me company while he was gone those four months...and I was in college, too. See where this is all coming together now?
I was really surprised as episode one started..the theme song took me right back to the late 80's. And then the clothes hit me..we were really dowdy back then. And I don't remember men wearing man jewelry but apparently it was the "in" thing because Elliot sports multiple pieces. And most of their phones still had cords and dials..oh, yeah! there weren't cordless phones just yet. And then all of a sudden I see Ellen in an outfit and I think, "Well, that's kind of cute". What!! But then again I recently spied a jacket in a fashion catalog that was a cross between Members Only and an Eddie Murphy jacket I vaguely remember. Scrunchies, clippies, really high-waisted jeans and baggy clothes for women, and jackets that seem too small for men immediately took me back to that time-frame. And I found myself able to examine myself and what I knew.
By the time the show ended in May of 1991, I had graduated college, Hope and I had our second babies together, the Gulf War had started and ended with us escaping deployment, and I was due with our third son, Logan. Eric and I had been married for five years and I had adjusted well to being military wife one weekend a month and two weeks during the summer and communication to soldiers overseas was still basically limited to hand-written letters. That's all I considered us....part-time military. I remember spending many nights praying back then and hoping Eric wouldn't be sent overseas. I still to this day don't know how these young military wives handle deployment with small children and they all remain in my constant prayers.
Logan turns 20 in July. Everything has changed so much in 20 years which is easily evidenced as I make my way through another episode (I am currently in season two). Thankfully, the era of acid-washed jeans and really bad sweaters, men's and women's, has passed. And thankfully I recognize now that we are full-time military all day every day and always have been. Maybe I've just always known that but now I truly accept it in my heart.
And in my heart I am officially counting down...it won't be long now and these 400 day tours will be over for all of us.
God Bless,
love,
Monica
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