I attended a “Goodbye and Good Luck” dinner tonight for my cousin Eileen, who will be leaving for Army basic training tomorrow. Eileen is 18. She is so young, so it’s natural that the family worries about her making such a huge decision. She herself is nervous and sad about this departure, but she also looks forward to the opportunities that it can give her in life.
I will miss Eileen...she is one of the cousins I am most close to, for she and my sister basically grew up together. She was crying alot tonight, but we tried to put smiles on her face with silliness (Chris even got her an Oreo milkshake, which definitely made her smile...and he also pulled a prank on her sister Michelle, which made Eileen laugh).
She is a strong girl, both mentally and physically. I am sure she will do great. I will be praying for her safety and well being (she becomes the third family member currently serving in a military branch, with my brother-in-law serving the army in Korea and my cousin Louie serving the Air Force. Three others have completed their time in the military these part few years, one having come back from Iraq several months ago).
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Speaking of my brother-in-law, he is going to try to visit my sister next month. He is allowed a month of break before he continues serving the rest of his deployment. However, he needs to pay his own way, which I found surprising. For some reason, I thought this would be paid for by the military. Anyway, my sister said it would put a strain on them financially if he comes over, but they still want to make it happen. I hope he does get to come...she misses him awful. If he doesn’t, I just hope that March comes really soon for him AND her.
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Finally, staying on the topic of relatives, I wanted to update the condition of my aunt Irma, who was diagnosed with HIV last year (I had written about her before). Well, Irma has her up and down days, but for the most part she is doing well. She has come a long way from half a year ago, when it seemed like she wouldn’t recover from a serious illness. She is much thinner now and does not have the energy that used to come so easily to her, but she tries to stay busy and not let life beat her down. I wish her more good days down the road.
Well, those are my thoughts for the night...better let the mind rest a bit.