Well, the week is over. What week is that? If you’ve been following along on Instagram and Facebook you will know that Chris and his family have been here at my place in Florida all week. I took the week off and man was it a good time. This was the longest our families have been able to spend together since the holidays. Just as we always talk about any time you get to spend with friends and family is time well spent. Chris and Steph and their two amazing children aren’t just friends, they are our family.
Living the life of career Marine is tough on friendships. Not just for me but my whole family. We all have to start over again every few years. Yes, there are those friendships that last through the years but those are few and far between. All too often you spend three or four years cultivating friendships that faded away after one of you leave for the next thing. However, I have been fortunate in my life to have some very good friends that will forever be part of my life. Chris and his family are a prime example of just what I’m talking about.
We have known each other now for about eight years. In that time our two families have grown into, well a family. Not just good friends but a family. We always joke about the “Compound” where we will set out our “Forever Homes” after Chris and I retire from the Marine Corps. I don’t know how much of a joke that is as I have no doubt, we will end up all in the same area, within stumbling distance from each other. We have spent a lot of time sitting around a campfire, in a truck or just the dining room table talking about it. Maybe it is just a couple of Marines daydreaming of the future but it is a nice future to dream about. Maybe somewhere along the Rocky Mountains. Who knows where that future will be.
My wife and I have struggled here with this particular assignment. It is pretty lonely duty, to be honest being that it isn’t a traditional assignment. Having Chris in Georgia, just six hours away is nice. Next year is going to be tough as we will both be moving and although neither of us knows for sure where we will be going it looks like he will be going back out to the west coast and I will be staying on the east coast. No guarantee but looks like that will be how it pans out.
Regardless of how things work out, I do not doubt that we will be making frequent trips back and forth to each other’s homes. As Chris and I continue to work on our project here with Old Breed Outdoors we have lots of trips in the queue for the years to come. It will be a challenge for sure but I do not doubt that we will be able to keep building on what we’ve done so far. That’s the beauty of family. You always find a way
They pulled out of the driveway just a couple hours ago and are headed north to Georgia. Already I’m thinking about the next trip that brings us all together. We spent this week at the indoor archery range, sporting clays range, making meat snacks and did it all with our families. A week like this last it what we live for. Watching your daughter dropping arrows in the bull eye with her bow or having one of them helping you mix ground meat with seasoning are memories that will not fade easily. So yes, I’m thinking about the next time and what memories it will bring.
