A Tangled Web

October 16, 2002

Weird dreams again last night. Since I’ve been here I’ve had dreams about trying to chase a man down and shoot him but I kept fumbling around with my magazine and barely got it loaded in time to shoot him. I finally put the gun to his head and then woke up. Last night I dreamt that I put my hair in rollers and when it was time to take them out, my hair was burnt to the roller and stuck to them. I wasn’t upset though—that was the funny part. I just sat there saying, well, I guess I’ll have short hair now. Strange.

Well, my predecessor, Michelle, got on the freedom bird and flew out of here today. She earned it after 6 months. That will be a cherished moment knowing on my way home to my yummy hubby.

Well, my dad always told me to think before I speak and never let my “mouth overload your butt.” Good advice—I wish I would have remembered that this week! I commented twice about how cultish and baby-making the Mormon’s are around and to Stephanie (a girl who is from my Alaska unit deployed here at the same time). Finally, today, I said, “you’re not Mormon are you?” (please say no, please say no…I thought)…but she responded, “Yes, but not practicing. My parents are, I just didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.” Well, I was ashamed of myself and deserved to be made uncomfortable. The only reason the subject ever came up was because she said her mother’s church had sent her 30 copies of the Book of Mormon in Russian. (We worked with Russians and Steph spoke Russian.) Well, I’m obviously a horrible intel officer not to but those indicators together and immediately deduce that she’s obviously Mormon or at LEAST her mom is! IDIOT! But, the lesson I’m learning here is what I should have learned and applied from Tuesday’s reading about slander. “The tongue, being in a wet place, is apt to slip.”

“Today let only thoughts that bless

Dwell in my heart and mind;

Silence my lips and tongue to all

That wounds or is unkind”

-white

Well, I’ve always admitted that it takes a hard lesson for me to learn so hopefully, this was mine.

Fast Forward: I’ve come to not only accept, embrace and love humanities differences but now I am wiser and teach my daughter kindness and acceptance. I also teach her that although we don’t look the same, talk the same or pray the same—we are all of the same creator and should all be treated with dignity and respect. My journey is different from hers but it is mine…and hers is hers. Love is love is love is love.