Family y mas....

One of the most important things in my life is, of course, my family. Not just Monica, the boys, Sergio and Marcelo, and Bella, but my Mom and Dad, Mando and my sisters, Linda, Vero and Chela but also my extended family, my Abel and Annette, and the rest of my nieces and nephews. My aunts and uncles. Cousin Tom and the rest of the cousins. And my other family, the one that I married into. But my family also includes my friends and their families as well. Sammy, Yule, Potter, Purdy, J-Lo, Sharpy, Chad-a-lac, Mitch, PK, Chivo, Carlos, Rico, Vinny, Lou, Marty, Dan-o, The Rostens, Al and familiy, The Brady's, and so many, many more. I won’t, I can’t say who means more to me but what I can tell you is that I know that they do not understand the impact they have made in my life.

You’ve heard the saying, “You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends.” This is partially true. I think that the best friendships are the ones that take no planning. That way the expectations are never too high and you don’t feel let down. Who can explain working with a former exchange student, inviting him over to a get together or two dozen, to now calling him carnal?(brother) Or meeting a couple of guys at a house party and thinking, “I got a bad feeling about these two” to sharing so much in common with them that you feel getting a matching tattoo is not only right but appropriate? The one guy that you thought would be the last one to go to for advice on a relationship is the one that ends up being your best man, not once, but twice. (We eloped and then had a traditional wedding) The guy that annoyed you during training turns out to be the one that helps you hold it together while serving in a part of the country where extreme loneliness is as constant as the unbearable temperatures.
And although you promise to keep in touch, things happen. But no matter how much time goes by, you answer the phone, or answer an e-mail and you pick up where you left off and you realize that those feelings that you thought had diminished were right there all along and to make it even better, they are stronger now than ever before.

Doesn’t life just kick ass?

( I know I left a whole bunch of people off of this list but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!)

Update

Well, I know what my assignment is going to be once we get over there, either Iraq or Afghanistan, but now, they are telling me that I may not have to go. The reason for this is that the Navy has a strict policy about our rotation period. Since I did not go over with this unit in '05, I have to wait three years between deployments. The unit that I went over with NMCB 18, is slated to go over in 2010 so I may get a chance to jump on a flight with them. I don't know how I feel about the process. If I have to go, a part of me wants to get it over with ASAP, especially since my little girl is still at the age where maybe, she won't miss met oo much. If I have to wait another year, then that will only make things that much more difficult for me. How could I say good bye to my little girl when, by then, she will be able to ask me questions, that I have to answer, but she will not be able to understand? Whether it's '09 or '10, the boys will go through their process, and then get back into their routine. Monica will keep things going at home, she always does. My concern will then shift to my parents. They are not getting any younger, and I know that the last deployment took a toll on them. "No matter how old you get, you will always be our little boy."
Even with this in mind, this voice inside of me, that tugs at my emotional (patriotic) strings, keeps telling me that if I do get called up, it is my duty, my obligation, to go.
Isn't that way my mom and dad sacrificied everything to come over to this country?