bonds of friendship.. insight to self...

navy buddies... i have just spent probably 4 hours today making new links to old friends in facebook... we served on board uss constitution and uss gettysburg ... it's hard to explain, but there is nothing like the kinship that one achieves when serving so closely with others in the military... for some it's been 15 years since i have last seen them.... they have families now... or they just have a bigger family... some were men of weak moral aptitude and others were men of strength that honored their covenants to their wives and girlfriends when out to sea... but there was always a silent confidence that if i needed help... any one would speak up.... no matter the personal feelings of annoyance.. i guess this is what eventually turns men of weak characters into men of strength.. i guess they witness first hand what it is to disagree, even vehemently, at times with you (me), but then be the first to volunteer to do your (my) watch if the need arose...

the ethics of professionalism developed during the workday would bleed into the personal lives of the men during the off times...it just wouldn't do the other way around... the ones who could not wouldn't last very long...so this is why i have a special affinity for anyone that served more than just the minimum in the military...

it's the character of strength i admire and hope that in myself i have retained just enough to remain extra-ordinary... it would be a pity to discover in myself that i lost that character i learned 15 years ago...which leads to a very difficult question... what would the quality of the handshake be if i were to meet the mentors i had from this time? .. could i look them in the eye or allow my eyes to wander in embarrassment?... i think i'll leave the last question open/rhetorical for the moment as i ponder its significance.... (the wonderful thing is.. my wife knows the answer... 2nd scary ponder... am i ready to listen) ... (or jokingly should i just give up and buy the next most expensive toy.. NOT!!!... )


ps....
this is just amazing.. i love the technology that allows people from all over the country to reconnect and laugh at very old jokes and make new ones...