Reasons Why We Do Things

Dear Readers,
The letters we are about to share with you are from the summer of 2000. I had just finished my junior year of high school and the day after school let out was leaving for basic training for the Amy National Guard. I was 17 years old and entered into a program that allowed me to go to basic over the summer, return for my senior year of high school, then go to Maryland for my AIT training (the schooling you go through to learn your specific military job).

MaryJanes Junior Year High School

It was the first time I had been away from home, ever. The longest Galoshes and I had ever been apart was just a few days while she went to visit a friend in Canada when I was 16.

I received a letter (sometimes two or three) a day from Galoshes. I think we both spent every free moment we had writing to each other.

You should also probably know that my interest in joining the military was also a desperate attempt for my father's approval. He was always saying that he wished he would have joined the military. Although we barely saw each other or spoke by the time I was 17, I hadn't fully given up on him yet. I don't know if I received a single letter from him while I was at basic training.

MaryJanes in Uniform

Perhaps we should have started our story here, past all of the dark times in our lives, but I don't think you would fully understand why we are the way we are without knowing some of what we have gone through.