I got a text message from my sister the other day. She is a regular reader of this blog and she let me know that, after reading my last entry, she never did find out one piece of information...how did I make it back from San Francisco to Monterey after my Christmas leave for 1985-86?
If you read the blog, you know that my flight from Columbus to Dallas/Ft. Worth was late, causing me to miss my connecting flight to San Francisco, which, in turn, caused me to have to cancel the ride I had arranged to get me from San Francisco to Monterey. So after flying in to San Francisco (First Class thanks to a very kind American Airlines ticket agent) I was stuck in San Francisco.
I wasn't the only one stuck though. Most major airports have a USO room where members of the military can go to relax when they're waiting for flights, and the USO area in the San Francisco airport was packed with military personnel who's flights had been delayed and were trying to find their way back to their individual bases. In 1986 there were 3 military facilities in the Monterey area. The Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center (DLI), Ft. Ord, and the US Naval Officers College. I happened to run in to a couple of guys who were trying to make their ways back to DLI and they had run in to a Naval officer who was trying to make her way back to the Naval College. She was in the process of renting a car, which the 4 of us split the cost of, and we drove back to Monterey. I didn't get in until about 1-2 am, but the guy signing people in allowed me to sign back in at 11:55pm, which saved me a day of leave.
So, for those of you who were on the edge of your seats wondering how I got back to Monterey...there you go.
Speaking of Monterey...as I was decorating my tree this past weekend I thought about the small tree that I had up in my baraks room while I was stationed in Monterey. That was my first Christmas tree. It was a small 2-3 foot tree that sat on top of the dresser. It did have a couple of presents underneath it for a family who was stationed there with me. I would have preferred to be home during the whole Christmas season, but it was kind of nice to have "my own place" with my own tree that I could decorate. My own way of continuing my family Christmas traditions while also starting my own personal traditions.
Traditions WILL change. Eventually we quit going to the grandparents on Christmas day. In 1988 my grandmother passed away, so the Burkhardt side of the family started getting together on the Saturday before Christmas. Eventually we quit going to Lyon grandparents on Christmas day, and now those grandparents have both passed away. This year, the Burkhardt family tradition of getting together the Saturday before Christmas has changed, and only the older generation will get together for dinner at a restaurant. I'll miss that part of the Christmas season, but I'll continue to build my own traditions. It's not just the traditions we've followed for years that make the season special...it's the traditions we begin and build that also make it special.
If you read the blog, you know that my flight from Columbus to Dallas/Ft. Worth was late, causing me to miss my connecting flight to San Francisco, which, in turn, caused me to have to cancel the ride I had arranged to get me from San Francisco to Monterey. So after flying in to San Francisco (First Class thanks to a very kind American Airlines ticket agent) I was stuck in San Francisco.
I wasn't the only one stuck though. Most major airports have a USO room where members of the military can go to relax when they're waiting for flights, and the USO area in the San Francisco airport was packed with military personnel who's flights had been delayed and were trying to find their way back to their individual bases. In 1986 there were 3 military facilities in the Monterey area. The Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center (DLI), Ft. Ord, and the US Naval Officers College. I happened to run in to a couple of guys who were trying to make their ways back to DLI and they had run in to a Naval officer who was trying to make her way back to the Naval College. She was in the process of renting a car, which the 4 of us split the cost of, and we drove back to Monterey. I didn't get in until about 1-2 am, but the guy signing people in allowed me to sign back in at 11:55pm, which saved me a day of leave.
So, for those of you who were on the edge of your seats wondering how I got back to Monterey...there you go.
Speaking of Monterey...as I was decorating my tree this past weekend I thought about the small tree that I had up in my baraks room while I was stationed in Monterey. That was my first Christmas tree. It was a small 2-3 foot tree that sat on top of the dresser. It did have a couple of presents underneath it for a family who was stationed there with me. I would have preferred to be home during the whole Christmas season, but it was kind of nice to have "my own place" with my own tree that I could decorate. My own way of continuing my family Christmas traditions while also starting my own personal traditions.
Traditions WILL change. Eventually we quit going to the grandparents on Christmas day. In 1988 my grandmother passed away, so the Burkhardt side of the family started getting together on the Saturday before Christmas. Eventually we quit going to Lyon grandparents on Christmas day, and now those grandparents have both passed away. This year, the Burkhardt family tradition of getting together the Saturday before Christmas has changed, and only the older generation will get together for dinner at a restaurant. I'll miss that part of the Christmas season, but I'll continue to build my own traditions. It's not just the traditions we've followed for years that make the season special...it's the traditions we begin and build that also make it special.
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