This is hubby taken when he was 17-years old during his training in the US Army. He served during the Gulf War in the early ’90s and had gone to various parts of the world for different missions. He recently just retired after 23-years in the Army Infantry. Unfortunately, I met him and we got married during the later part of his service so I didn’t get to witness so much action. But then I’m just glad that I met him at all.

He continues his service by providing mentorship to students as a Tactical Officer in a military school here in Alabama. And he still gets to wear his military uniforms.

Today, Hubby and the school’s marching drill team are on their way to a parade in celebration of the Veteran’s Day. They are all dresssed up in their formal military uniform including Hubby. Buckles and shoes are all shiny and bright. And they are even wearing white gloves. They all look sharp and patriotic.

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Daddy and Matthew, Retirement Ceremony
Photo taken on May 22, 2008 at Daddy’s Office

Matthew and I attended dear hubby’s retirement ceremony. It was only a few blocks away so we walked to the office, but I was not prepared for the heat. It was a hot day!

We were 30 minutes early. We did a few socializing. I am amazed at how differently Matthew responds to the people at the office. While Matthew seems scared and cries over with the men who comes to him, he doesn’t seem to mind the ladies. He never fails to attract the ladies’ attention. He talks and giggles a lot with the ladies.

The ceremony went out well. This is the first retirement ceremony I’ve attended. I was expecting more people to be honored in the ceremony, but the ceremony was only for my hubby. There were certain gestures or chroreography for every part of the ceremony even with accepting awards and honors.

The presiding officer emphasized on my hubby’s 23-years of military service and his admiration to my husband on wanting to keep the ceremony at low key to be attended by only few people. Well, that’s always been him – simplistic and doesn’t want to fuss on anything.

I am so impressed by how the flag was turned over. There was a monologue about the military life, their pledge and beliefs, and more. If only Matthew was behaved, I could have concentrated more and really listened to the monologue and be a better observant.

When dear hubby had a chance to speak, I’m so proud at how he managed to add humor in his speech while keeping it short but meaningful.

The hardest thing for me is keeping Matthew to stay still and just sit, and stop moving about, stop going to places and stop interfering with the ceremony by climbing over chairs. I don’t think I did good enough job to hide the hard time I was having with Matthew, ’cause the secretary came over to help me. I couldn’t thank her enough.

At the end of the ceremony, I stood beside my husband while people lined up to shake his hand and wish him well. Sometimes, they shake my hands too. I think it’s tradition that the spouses are acknowledged too. Afterall, it is the spouses who takes care of the home while their better halves are away to fight the wars. But since I’ve only been an army wife for less than 5 years and dear hubby was never away to missions or wars during our time together, I really feel uneasy being acknowledged. I did not experienced the typical army life like a typical army wife would. For me, it’s pretty much an easy military life.

Click to view more photos.

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