This will be my 101st blog post since conception. Given the opportunity to be aware of this before writing presents me the special privilege to write on my uncle.
The 101st Airborne Division is the branch of the Army that my uncle enlisted in.
As a result of my uncle’s military involvement, which still continues, I see him rarely. Nonetheless, the memories we share are treasured and vague. The majority of our time spent together took place before I was really even 10-12 years old.
The earliest I can recall are great. From throwing water balloons together at my aunt and her friend on the couch, to playing with water guns, and him having this bright colored CD that we jammed out to in the car around town. Every time he came around was awesome for me. He always had a way of being generous with me and there was seemingly an abundance of toys or other games when I was growing up via our family.
We had those small battery cars kids drive, a trampoline, action figures, gaming systems, VHS/DVDs galore, the list can go on. What we didn’t have in square footage, we had in abundance through family.
The CD always stands out to me though, to this day it does.
It was a highlighter color, maybe orange or green, and I likely still listen to those songs today without realizing. Another addition to the collage of short duration memories that make up my relationship with my uncle.
Backpack, Backpack
Anyway, one of his leaves, or breaks from dropping some duty, he came to visit us when we were living in the desert of So Cal. I don’t recall how long I saw him for or much more then the details that follow but it was a hell of a trip.
Whether we were in a rental or his own car, I never really knew, not till more recently at least. This evening he came and picked up my mom + me, sitting in the back, likely on a booster seat.
We were headed for Fort Irwin. We left home around sunset and it took us probably an hour and a half to get on base. At which point, we ended up at an army supply store. Here is where I ended up getting a backpack that my uncle bought me as a gift. This was a Woodland Camo Camelback, not one that was too bulky but too big for me then. I was so happy with it and no way I earned myself a $100+ military backpack as a 2nd grader but as a nephew, I will take it and cherish it.
This backpack is still with me to this day, though the bladder was damaged getting out of a friends vehicle in high school, around the same time I started using it again. The zipper also malfunctions so I may need to get Camelbak on the phone for repairs.
Basically, this thing is one of my sentimental treasures. I’m forever grateful.
Without getting more longwinded about the trip, we whipped back at speeds I hadn’t been at before that day. I recall jamming out while seeing 120 MPH on the dash as we zipped through the empty terrain ahead. Not many other times in my life that was the case, it was the one I felt the safest, besides maybe that of my own volition. I’ve seen my uncle a handful of times since then yet we talk more frequently these last couple years than we have been in the past, 1 on 1.
Hopefully we’ll see each other before the year ends, but until then, keep those Apaches airborne.
