Memories

My company, B-4-2, at Ft. Gordon, Georgia in 1982.

A student from the University of Arizona has been interviewing me for a school project. Today we went looking for pictures of me from when I was in the military. I cannot believe that this was almost 30 years ago! It seems like only a short while ago. I was giving up command of a signal company and scheduled to attend the Signal Officer Advanced Course (SOAC) in the Army. I met Marc in that course just a month later. We were married three months later.

It is interesting how different experiences in life prepare you for things that you end up doing later. I had a company of 500 Army students studying all sorts of telecommunications equipment. Besides learning how to manage people and supervise four barracks (great preparation for running an apartment complex - which I have never take advantage of!), I learned how to talk to large groups. Someone asked me a few nights ago whether I would be nervous speaking for the Tucson Handweavers and Spinners guild on Wednesday. Since I have done lots of public speaking and on subjects that I dearly love, it is not as hard as one would think. The only time I worry is when I know that the audience is critical or unfriendly. I am always prepared for technical difficulties - computers do have gremlins and always know when you NEED them to work. I can always talk with a skein of yarn in hand!

Now I am thinking of digging out more old pictures to share. My kids never believe my stories of my time in the Army. I always tell people that the rules and regulations that I was forced to follow then turned me into the freeform rebel that I am now.