I’m not doing a full count back up, but I wanted to mark the beginning of retirement. Josh picked up his DD-214 (discharge paper) which means that no one controls him anymore (unless you count me, lol).
He doesn’t have to shave anymore (see above — that part will be a Robin demand now, but we’ll compromise with not having to shave every day. No one can call him and tell him that he has to cancel his plans because of an unexpected deployment and he can travel anywhere in the world that his passport allows without asking for permission first. He now has free speech and can say anything he wants publicly, though wise people always speak with restraint so I don’t foresee much difference in behavior there.
We celebrated last night with a BBQ at our beach cottage with family and local friends. Not surprisingly for anyone who has been stationed there, almost everyone was from the group of friends we made when we lived in Bahrain. That network is tight and those friendships are deep.
It’s a great first day for all of us.