Little sliver of freedom

24-hour pass from the army base, loosely interpreted: off base yesterday at noon, in Athens at about 4pm, taxi to the bus station at 4pm today, bus back to the base at 5:30, to be in formation before lights out at 10pm.

Fell asleep about 11:00 or so, after doing a couple of loads of laundry. Awakened at about 6, stayed in bed until about 8. No uniform to clamber into in ten minutes, no need to get the bed ready for inspection - always a problem, because I'm up against a wall, have to pull the bed away to get the far side done, and the bunk's almost as tall as I am, plus it's bent in the middle so wrinkles ALWAYS show up. No worries about whether I'll find the one working latrine serving a company of almost two hundred soldiers.

No officers or NCO's shouting at the whole company or the whole regiment, too fast for me to understand. Food at my own pace, in my own time. No bugles.

Five hours until I leave freedom behind. Hoping I don't get sentry duty, where there are specific challenges that have to be shouted, which I still don't have straight because of the language barriers.

Hoping against hope to be able to build something when I get out again for the last time ... I have a job, I have a place to live, but I don't have what you might call a life.

Have to do something about that.

In memory, while I have time

I didn't know tv_elf all that well (sort of like what Bilbo Baggins said: "don't know half of you half as well as I should, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve", which when you break it down, is in fact a self-deprecating compliment to the listeners), but she was one of the ones who was welcoming when I stumbled into what I call the "writing circle" to my folks, and on here I just think of as "the community".

Joking, thoughtful, cheerful, an encouraging word in hard times: that was the Abby I got to know through correspondence. Wasn't till several years later that I even learned about things like the wheelchair, and the battles she fought every day. It just wasn't relevant to the parts of her that I saw.

Better person than me in that regard, for sure and certain. And stronger, when it counted.

Rest easy, Abby. Your friends are better for having known you, and the world's a better place because you walked it for a while.

Off line

Shutting down again. May be back one more time to handle paperwork. If not, then I'll hopefully be back come the New Year.