Corpsman Chronicles XXXVI: Super RBOC, I think I love you (part v)

What's the difference between a fairy tale and a sea-story? A fairy tale begins, "Once upon a time..." A sea story begins, "This is no shit!"

I try to be careful to change names, but to the best of my recollection the events and locations are substantially correct. Of course I can only describe events from my perspective, so there's that. Readers who were present will doubtless have different recollections of any particular event. This is what it was like to serve in my tiny slice of the U.S. Navy between the late 1970's and early 1990's. It really was an adventure.

Here's part five of the Super RBOC saga.

Remember,

This is no shit!

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Loved this helo.

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We interrupt this series for what feels like an important announcement.

When I began this series on April Fools Day, 2020, my intent was to tell some good ripping sea stories wrapped around the kernel of an idea. I wanted to try to illustrate one of my major character defects. It felt to me at the time that many of my navy tales cast me in an undeserved light. I tried pretty hard to show how flawed a man I was (and remain), but it seemed important that I illustrate how very selfish and self centered I was and how cavalierly I most often treated other human beings. Even those I really liked. Especially those I tried to learn to love.

Between the second and third episodes of this series I fell in love in real life. For the very first time.

Not only did I fall in love, I learned very quickly what it was to give all of myself and all of my love unconditionally to another person. I found out that the reality of love is something so different than I'd ever imagined or believed that the two concepts actually exist in direct opposition. I had always assumed that love was about me.

Between the third and fourth episodes, something magical happened. My love allowed me to love all of her, unconditionally.

In a very short span of days my life went from full and round and satisfying and more than I could ever have reasonably hoped for or expected to something so much larger and better that I can't begin to properly describe it.

I've been in close contact with the Rebecca of this tale since the very beginning. She has had and will continue to have complete editorial control. It's only right and proper. Rebecca believes the tale is a good one on its own merit and might just have the potential to prod a knucklehead like myself in the proper direction somewhat earlier in life. She also notes that I was not the only knucklehead in the relationship.

Here's another miracle. Rebecca and I had a very interesting time together, then spent decades apart. She is happily married and is a proud grandma. And now, over the span of a few short months, we are real and true friends. What a treasured thing a friend is!

All of this is to say that the Super RBOC saga will continue, but it'll take a bit of time to get to the proper place to take it back up. It will also be a different story than it would have been had my life not changed so very much. On April Fools Day I was very nearly the same selfish fool I was 35 years ago, and it was therefore pretty easy to channel that knucklehead. In this week leading up to Labor Day I am rather a different fellow. It feels like I'm more complete. Getting back into the knucklehead's mind is going to take some serious effort. At a basic level it's just the retelling of an age-old story, but if I do it right it should be entertaining and maybe even helpful. We'll see.

Be well and embrace the blessings of liberty.