Good news all around. Woke-up this morning to a phone call from the great man himself. Almost no one calls me in the morning and I didn't recognize the number so I didn't answer it. He left a message and called again. I looked at the number and thought; "If they're calling twice it could be important." When I answered the phone I didn't recognize his voice. In my defense I hadn't heard his rumbling growl in two and half months. Here is a transcript of that first exchange as best as I can remember it. Keep in mind that I was just waking up.
Me: Hello?
Craig: Hey.
Me: Hi? (still trying to figure out who it is.)
Craig: What time is it there? Shouldn't you be up by now?
Me: (sudden realization) Oh my God! Hey, baby!!
For the first few minutes I let him do all of the talking. I have to admit, I was a bit gitty listening to him. The last time we spoke was the weekend of my brother's wedding at the end of July. It's a funny thing. I feel like I hear from him pretty often but under any other circumstances not hearing someone's voice for two months would be considered ridiculous. I guess everything is relative. One thing I noticed was the conversation got a bit choppy. We email quite a bit (at his FOB there's no IM or Skype because they take up too much band-width and slow the internet down too much) and I think our brains are used to that sort of communication. It's weird to have questions answered right after they're asked. It made me nervous. Plus, I think I've forgotten how to read his inflection. He's in such a different place right now. He sounds angry and tried and in real-life that would be a cause for concern but in his "other" life I think that's probably just normal.
"Angry" is the new "Normal"
We talked about his leave coming up and what he wants to do with his time. We talked about how we're both excited and nervous. He told me he looks different now. I realized I haven't seen a picture of him in six months. He shaved his head, is apparently ripped (all they do is work and workout) and he has no idea if he's lost weight or gained it. He says that he drinks so much water right now that he has no idea what will happen when he's state-side and doesn't need to. It's gonna be a wild ride seeing how this leave goes.
On a happy note. Let's have a big hip-hip for the US postal service. I was so nervous it wouldn't get there but his birthday package arrived right on time. He liked all the things I got for him. He was nervous that I got him DVDs that he already owned but I won the day on that score. Not only did he not have them, they are perfect for him. Hooray for me!!! He didn't, however, like the sweat shirt that I made for him. It was actually a sweat shirt he gave to me before he left. I sewed some cool stripes across the front. I thought that I improved it but I guess it's not quite his style (plus civvies are not strictly allowed). Oh well, not everyone can be as rad as me.
Here is Craig's birthday package. I think the sweat shirt looks awesome.
We talked for about an hour before he had to get off the phone. There's always a line of guys waiting. I always feel a vague depression when we get off the phone. I never know when I'm going to hear from him again and that leaves me pretty sad sometimes. It's always a double-edged sword.
Well that was Craig's birthday. See you next time.
Great post. I love that you got to talk to him today. Happy Birthday Craig!
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