| By René Locklear White May 28, Memorial Day 2018 Honeysuckles. Go green Spring! Our daughter is home on military leave. Only one day left, then she returns to her military unit. She is upstairs rummaging through boxes left on purpose, before she shipped off to boot camp and then tech-school. Books. Old movies. A Native American dream catcher. I am downstairs. My old military storage-chest rests in the center of our living room, partially open. I look inside for something to distract me from her leaving again. Cards. Un-played games. Blocks with no boxes. How many boxes did I leave, pick up and move since I joined the Air Force in 1989? I cannot remember. Then, I get present to an old aircraft F-16 model-kit in my military chest. When she was born in 1995, I did not decorate her baby room with fun colors and plush toys. I assembled aircraft models to hang over her crib and give her air superiority. How did life get so busy that I never finished this F-16 Fighting Falcon 22 years ago? I was a young Air Force Captain then. My first model was a small Army Apache helicopter. Now, while she searches for treasures upstairs, I begin working on my old model. I get glue, tweezers, nail clippers and begin assembling the little F-16 engine and engine-air-inlet. A little while later, my daughter comes downstairs, “So what’s this mom?” |  In our pajamas, together we begin assembling, where time and life stopped. I cherish each assembly in a new way; I feel she does too. I am watching and listening as she builds the same F-16 aircraft she is now learning to actually land. My daughter attends Air Traffic Control School at the Air Force’s largest combat F-16 wing in the world, Shaw AFB. Who would have ever guessed we would be sitting here 22 years later. I am retired Air Force. She is active duty. What timing! What are the chances? Or maybe this is a spiritual happening? Here we are, mother and daughter. Two Native American, female veterans. Treasuring time. Building something new together. Not just an aircraft, but new possibilities. Fragrant memories. Go Air Force blue! Our daughter was home on military leave. |
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