The Parade of Plaid

 Chapter 3

I met Ed while in the Army stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas, through a series of events where I had no control. I was designated as the interim driver and became armed with a military learner's permit and subsequently, a military driver's license.

Yes, you read that right. Although my mom allowed me attend Driver's Education in high school, I never earned my driver's license. My mom would not let me driver her car (a special thanks to my two, older sisters!) so I never saw any reason to pursue my license.

After a short time of driving with a military learner’s permit, I finally earned my military driver’s license.

I became the driver for the Sergeant Major for our section at the main headquarters armed with my first license at age 19, and thus began my foray into hands-on learning solo driving!

I was assigned to drive a big, military “CUCV”--basically a diesel Blazer.

Now this beast was so tall (to me), that in order to scrape ice from the windshield I needed to literally CLIMB onto the hood to reach it.

This was the vehicle in which I began my driving career.

I had several minor, fender benders in the beginning of this military driving career. Minor ones like when I pulled in next to a stone building and misjudged the width of the vehicle and side mirrors and I scraped the mirror against the immovable building. Minor.

The worst fender bender was when I backed into a civilian car.

A bright, sunny day, and sporting my Battle Dress Uniform (BDUs) I dropped off documents at the barracks for the headquarters staff. In the process of backing up the big, camouflaged behemoth to drive back to the headquarters building I heard a loud “CRUNCH”. It sounded bad.

I hopped down out of the big vehicle to see what happened. I circled around to the back and froze when I saw the huge dent in the back panel of someone’s car.

Fellow soldiers swarmed out of the barracks like a disturbed bees’ nest. I quickly drew a large, gawking audience.

The Military Police arrived in three squad cars. The large circle of onlookers were all examining the damage, pointing, and looking at me. My worst driving nightmare in my short, driving career.

Several hours later, after explaining what happened to multiple people, apologizing to the car owner and filling out paperwork, I was allowed to drive away.

This “fender bender” earned me remedial driving classes and a visit to the commanding officer after hours. According to the rules, I needed to have a “spotter” every time I backed up the vehicle in order to cover my blind spot.

Unfortunately, I was often running errands that sometimes required me to drive in reverse, but I NEVER had a soldier riding beside me. I guess I was supposed to look for someone to grab and request that they “spot” me, every time I backed up the vehicle.

Our unit was scheduled for a week-long training in the field (field exercise) a few weeks later, and our section colonel needed a driver--because he obviously did not want me! They brought in Ed from another unit on post. The colonel called me into his office and tasked me with showing the new guy "the ropes" at the motor pool. I did think he was cute with his short red hair and hazel eyes, but it bothered me that a few fender benders kept me from driving for the colonel.

I drove the enlisted staff and the captain for the field exercise. I often ran into Ed (not literally!) driving the colonel around throughout the week. We started getting along really well and I enjoyed the times I would run into him. He would always make a point to talk to me no matter who was around, and we would hang out in the tent and play cards during our off time.

The last day of the exercise, we had packed up and loaded everything onto the trucks and were spending our last night in our cots all laid out in formation under the stars. We would be packing up our cots and heading out early in the morning.

When we turned in for the night, I laid on my cot in the moonlight thinking how this might be my last opportunity to talk to Ed before things became crazy in the morning and he returned to his unit.

I knew he was sleeping a couple of cot rows over from my current location. I looked over in the moonlight, listening to the heavy breathing and snoring of those around me. It looked like everyone was asleep, including Ed.

I reached down and grabbed a few weeds near me, and threw them with a small amount of accuracy up and over other cots where they landed softly on Ed. His breathing did not change AT ALL!

After a couple more unsuccessful attempts, I slowly slid off my cot. Then I walked quickly and quietly next to his cot and shook Ed gently. He woke up and we shared a whispered conversation. I shared with him how much I enjoyed hanging out with him, and my hope that I would hear from him after we returned to our respective units. He agreed and said he would. I decided to return to my cot, but it was very difficult to sleep--I thought about him much of the night.

I slipped him my phone number on a torn piece of yellow, legal paper before we left camp. Ed kept that slip of paper all these years in a small, blue frame. I still have that framed piece of yellowed paper.

We married in 1988...

This is where my journey merged with his. My few boxes of memories merged with his box-rich childhood memories.