During the brief Holiday, I was rummaging through old papers and things, and I found some pictures I had from being connected to the US NAVY. None of them showed me in uniform, but that was hardly important.

It reminded me of a woman I dated for only a brief amount of time, that if I had to do over, I would have done things very differently. We crossed paths in Naval Recruit Training (boot camp) and connected via the written word, and later, in our adventures to and in Chicago. It was 1998 - when the country didn't seem so screwed up by power brokers in my eyes - and though my life wasn't going that well, I finally met someone that understood me better than I did...

Dana Haralson was kind, gentle, adventurous and quiet, at times, but she also had a solid belief in herself. She was a college grad, like me, that didn't hit the workplace as successfully as desired.  But she rebounded well, took the chance on the US NAVY and went forward. She was training to be a air-to-sea rescue gal - something I knew little about - and that was the mission I thought she might be on for me: TO RESCUE ME.

We spent 3-4 weeks at the end of training and shortly thereafter, as boyfriend and girlfriend.  I was too scared to commit completely to her; whereas she honestly wanted that in earnest. (We had a normal argument over the phone about me visiting her in Pensacola, FL on the 4th of July - though leave was scarcely available this early in training, I could have gone...but didn't) But we STILL had a decent relationship overall, given how complicated it was to fit the NAVY around it.

I sent her a few things while we were separated(right after boot camp), writing her letters, poems and the like. But it was too early in a relationship to be apart for such a long time. And neither of us had a clear understanding of where we would be in 2 months or 2 years.  By the middle of summer, it was over. I never heard from Dana again.  And it didn't get better for me after that.

I just wished we had met in any other circumstance besides the US Military. We may have dated for a very long time - or gone that final step. As it is, I didn't make that final step, in fact I regressed. My life is SO FAR from what I desire,  that I wonder if the whole exercise of living hasn't been a pretty backward endeavor. But that's for another blog posting...

Some people believe in not having any regrets...they aren't telling much of the truth. ALL of US have regrets in choices, behaviors and words we have used in our lives. To live a life without regret, I feel that takes a few regrets to finally understand that. And years to do it in. 

Hopefully, Dana is doing well in her endeavors and has 'gotten' over me. (Just kidding...)

With that said, hopefully we all find someone that has given us that one moment in time that we wish was extended to this very time and place in which we are...in.