Life has taken a bit of a turn here. One of my twins, age 30, just signed into the Army. I think even he's surprised, but it does make sense. He quit school and started working full-time in a garage at age 17 (I won't go into THOSE battles). Being an essentially fatherless child and a twin (their social skills are superb), he was mentored in auto mechanics in a local gas station/garage. This is a family business - the dad owns and runs it, mom does the books and their one son is a mechanic there. Very old-fashioned, but Harlan's now a very competent general auto mechanic. Now, at age 30 he's seeing that he can't make enough money to have much more of a life than he has now, and he wants more. He got his GED and took a few courses at the local Community College, aiming at engineering. He sees that it'll be a very long time before he can get a degree. Meanwhile, he and the girl he'd lived with for 7 years have separated. He's physically fit, so basic training should be at least possible if not easy. The Army has promised him money up front, an education in a useful skill (repair and maintenance of medical equipment), and eventually money for a full degree. If I had any arguments it's too late - he had the physical and took the oath. He leaves for basic training on Mar. 4. I thought things were fine until we sat together after his physical - the first real exposure to Army life. He sounded like the women I cared for who'd just given birth (I worked as a surgical nurse, but "normal" birthings sometimes overflowed onto our floor): he talked it through, minute by minute, from entry to getting home. Trauma and life change - it made me feel concerned for him for the first time.

So... He's my muscle when I need to move things, so I'll have to be making different arrangements for clearing out furniture from the attic and other spaces. He has a huge, valuable toolbox that'll need to be stored. His furniture will need to be packed and stored (not a whole lot there - a bed, bureau, a couple tables, a computer chair, and a few boxes of clothes, books and assorted stuff.) To make room for his things, I'm going to make his twin sort through some piles of things he's just unloaded from various living arrangements into our storage space. Lordy, I wish this was taking place in May! If February brings deep snow we're in trouble.


After basic training, Harlan'll be heading to you, SRS. Medical training for a year in San Antonio. After that, the Army will own him for at least 5 years.