Phalanx
.040 Over
So, it's been 15,000 miles now on the Rocket and I can definitely say I love this thing more every **** day....
I joined this site right when I got it, and only a couple months after my Dad died from Alzheimers (I had moved him in with me for a year or so). I lost mom to Lymphoma in march of this year-2017 (she went through months of the whole chemo/radiation and man, it was brutally bad). Right when I was finally at peace with Pop being gone, WHAM....life throws out more hairpin turns.
I thought Dad had a lot to teach me in his final months....Compassion...Patience...Humility.....
But man....Watching moms throat swell up to the size of your average 6'6" 400lb wrestler and have to get ambulanced to the hospital....heart-attacking out on the way and get shocked back to life....Lying in that hospital bed and when I asked her how she was...the lesson she taught me then....holy ****...She couldn't talk with a tube stuffed down her throat, so she had a pen/clipboard with a bunch of paper to write stuff back to us and the nurses/docs/etc.....
Me: "O.k, so you're on the breathing tube, you look a little better, I know this sucks but how are you?"
Mom: "I'm good, this is my reward"
Me: "Uh, mom? Are you sure you aren't delirious? reward?!"
She holds up a hand, and looks me dead in the eyes and writes just two words and underlines them
Mom: " STILL HERE!!"
Mom: "I took care of people, was there when they were sick and in trouble....this is god rewarding me, I'm still here, fighting.".
Now...I'm you're average ex-mil guy, the tears just don't come on tap, but man, I had to look away for a bit to get my **** back together....Holy ****.....
You just nearly died in the **** ambulance, you have a tube stuffed down your throat just to breathe, you've got lines all over, and one in your stomach to get fed by...and you still have that much faith, grace, and strength of will?
I can only hope to have 1/10th of what she and my dad had...
Powerful teachers, the most painful and potent I've ever experienced...
But, in the last month or so I dug out all my hiking/orienteering gear....
Lensatic compass? check. Topo maps of where I'm headed? check. Pack loaded up, and then loaded up more because I need a kick in the ass and something to push me? check. Camelback filled? check. Right, let's get this ruck on!
Just today, I finished a 12 mile hike in some evil ass 90 degree Virginia heat, nearly all in the sun....If it hadn't been so **** hot I'd have hit my goal of 23 miles....I'm comin back for you, ya **** trail....Yes, yes I am....
I've had some hard lessons these past 2 years.....I've put a couple more miles on the rocket and every one of those miles has a story to tell....every.....one....
Some hard and seriously painful, some crazy with idiot drivers trying to merge ON to me (literally directly beside me, trying to push me out of the lane), some spent talking to mom/pop, some laughing at the weather, a lot just enjoying the trees roll on by..
Rocket captains!!
Ride on my brothers....Ride the hell on!
I joined this site right when I got it, and only a couple months after my Dad died from Alzheimers (I had moved him in with me for a year or so). I lost mom to Lymphoma in march of this year-2017 (she went through months of the whole chemo/radiation and man, it was brutally bad). Right when I was finally at peace with Pop being gone, WHAM....life throws out more hairpin turns.
I thought Dad had a lot to teach me in his final months....Compassion...Patience...Humility.....
But man....Watching moms throat swell up to the size of your average 6'6" 400lb wrestler and have to get ambulanced to the hospital....heart-attacking out on the way and get shocked back to life....Lying in that hospital bed and when I asked her how she was...the lesson she taught me then....holy ****...She couldn't talk with a tube stuffed down her throat, so she had a pen/clipboard with a bunch of paper to write stuff back to us and the nurses/docs/etc.....
Me: "O.k, so you're on the breathing tube, you look a little better, I know this sucks but how are you?"
Mom: "I'm good, this is my reward"
Me: "Uh, mom? Are you sure you aren't delirious? reward?!"
She holds up a hand, and looks me dead in the eyes and writes just two words and underlines them
Mom: " STILL HERE!!"
Mom: "I took care of people, was there when they were sick and in trouble....this is god rewarding me, I'm still here, fighting.".
Now...I'm you're average ex-mil guy, the tears just don't come on tap, but man, I had to look away for a bit to get my **** back together....Holy ****.....
You just nearly died in the **** ambulance, you have a tube stuffed down your throat just to breathe, you've got lines all over, and one in your stomach to get fed by...and you still have that much faith, grace, and strength of will?
I can only hope to have 1/10th of what she and my dad had...
Powerful teachers, the most painful and potent I've ever experienced...
But, in the last month or so I dug out all my hiking/orienteering gear....
Lensatic compass? check. Topo maps of where I'm headed? check. Pack loaded up, and then loaded up more because I need a kick in the ass and something to push me? check. Camelback filled? check. Right, let's get this ruck on!
Just today, I finished a 12 mile hike in some evil ass 90 degree Virginia heat, nearly all in the sun....If it hadn't been so **** hot I'd have hit my goal of 23 miles....I'm comin back for you, ya **** trail....Yes, yes I am....
I've had some hard lessons these past 2 years.....I've put a couple more miles on the rocket and every one of those miles has a story to tell....every.....one....
Some hard and seriously painful, some crazy with idiot drivers trying to merge ON to me (literally directly beside me, trying to push me out of the lane), some spent talking to mom/pop, some laughing at the weather, a lot just enjoying the trees roll on by..
Rocket captains!!
Ride on my brothers....Ride the hell on!