proud? of me?

You may or may not know.... I went to see The VIllage People and KC and the Sunshine Band on Saturday. It was a fantastic concert and we had a blast. By we I mean me and my friend MJ (short for Messy Jessy). I took some video (against the rules) and got a great little video of her doing the Y-M-C-A "dance". It was totally fun. At intermission she handed me her phone and said "Ask for Marth."

Back up - her parents are WIllie and Marth. He is a retired Navy Captain about whom I have MANY stories and she is just Marth - stoic Navy wife and mother. Librarian extraordinaire. Punisher of great talent.

Anyway, I talked to Marth and told her that I had posted video of MJ to Facebook if they wanted to watch it - yes, we are friends on FB. SHe said great and then said "WIllie wants to talk to you." Now, WIllie is quite imposing. He is a great guy, don't get me wrong, but he definitely carries and aura of leadership and "he who must be obeyed" - comes with that whole Navy O-6 thing I guess. Add in that I haven't seen him for about 30 years and I was right back to being a teen again.

He asked me how I liked Navy life, how was I doing with it, what was my husband like, what rank was he, what did he do and what was his current job.... then he said he was proud of me. He was proud of me.... wow. He said he knew how hard it was to be good at it and that he was proud of me. Then he said he was proud of my husband, a man he had never met. That is the whole brothers-in-arms thing that service members have going.

My mind, so used to being proud of my husband, could wrap around that. He rocks. He is excellent at his job. His peers respect him. The people that work for him respect him. His bosses respect him. Others wives say things like "have your husband teach my husband how to do that" when talking about the gentlemanly behavior he exhibits at functions or the way he holds me during a Homecoming. He is so deserving of the respect.... I get that.

Me? Someone besides my mom proud of me? I mean, my son is proud of me mostly 'cause I am his mom and his friends like me, I am smart blah blah blah.... My sisters are proud, I suppose, to a point. I am pretty sure my husband is proud - I have always striven to be a good wife and support him and his Command.

But someone else? Someone I haven't seen in forever? Proud? Wow. It meant so much. I got choked up. He talked about how hard it is and that it takes someone special to love a service member. He said that I and my husband were in his prayers. It was fantastic, that feeling I had. I have been pulling it up for a few minutes every day and reliving that moment. I feel like a kid who has brought home A's on their report card and told "good job, I knew you could do it".

The whole point of this one is to tell someone you are proud of them. Mean it. Tell them why. You will really make their day!