Jason (AR 8) - Naval Cruise Book

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When GOD created. . . a military spouse When the good Lord was creating spouses, he was into his sixth day of overtime. An angel appeared and said, You ' re having a lot of trouble with this one. What ' s wrong with the standard model? And the Lord replied, Have you seen the specs on this order? He or she has to be completely indepen- dent, but must be sponsored to get on base; have the qualities of both father and mother during cruises; be a perfect host or hostess to 4 or 40; run on black coffee; handle emergencies without a A TOPS manual: be able to handle the flu, birthdays and moves around the world; have a kiss that can cure anything from a child ' s torn Valentine to a wife ' s or husband ' s weary day; have the patience of a saint when waiting for the ship to sail home; and have six pair of hands. The Angel shook her head slowly and said, Six pairs of hands - No way! And the Lord answered, Don ' t worry, we ' ll make other military spouses to help. Besides it ' s not the hands that are causing the problem, it ' s the heart. It must swell with pride for the spouse, sustain the ache of separations, beat on soundly when its too tired to do so, and be large enough to say, I understand when he or she doesn ' t and I love you regardless. Lord; said the angel touching his sleeve gently. Come to bed — Tomorrow! I can ' t, said, the Lord. I ' m so close to creating something unique. Already I have one that can heal itself when it ' s sick, can feed three unexpected guests who are stuck in the area due to bad weather, and can wave good-bye to it ' s spouse from a pier and understand that it is important to our country that he or she leaves. The angel circled the model of the military spouse very slowly. It ' s too soft, she sighed. But tough, said the Lord excitedly. You cannot imagine what this person can do or endure. Can it think? Can it think? It can convert 1400 to 2 p.m. Finally, the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the check. There ' s a leak, she pronounced. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model. It ' s not a leak, said the Lord. It ' s a tear. What is it for? asked the angel. It ' s for Joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride! You are a genius, said the angel. The Lord looked somber and replied — 7 didn ' t put it there. 13

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DEPARTURE 1000, 11 May 1989, the whis- tle sounded over the IMC and then the words, Un- derway, Shift Colors! The weather reflected our mood — some stood for long min- utes, some sighed, but all knew. . .WestPac had start- ed. We ' d been tasked to do what we do best. t -„• 12

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