applications for the captain reggie gholston fan club are being accepted now!

i met captain reggie through f2fb friend #4 winston chang.  winston and reggie went to west point together.  reggie is 28 years old, has served in baghdad twice, and was part of the 82nd airborne division.  i say thank you to reggie every day because what he does ensures that we are safe.

i had cancelled every facebook friend visit because my father justin is really having a rough time.  he can’t stop talking.  in fact, as i am writing this, justin is standing over me telling me about the history of catholicism, graham greene, bimbos, early greek thinking about homosexuality, wittgenstein, and his method of teaching.  he says he wants to make a final confession to me.  it’s as if his brain was laid open and splattered onto his tongue:  he must give voice to every thought as it drops.

reggie had planned to fly in from savannah, georgia where he’s stationed and we were going to drive up to huntsville and then over to atlanta.  in the airport, as i picked him up, i quickly explained that there was a change of plans. . . .

reggie is exactly the man you want to have with you in an emergency.  he’s brave, quiet, steady, and steadying to everyone around him.  the four of us went to lunch, walked through the tallahassee cemetery and we’re going to watch the super bowl together.

reggie leaves tomorrow and i am grateful to him.  he didn’t want to do a video today because he said he wants to do something else with me:  he’s going to take me parachuting!  of course, he’s had lots of experiences (twenty) with the 82d airborne.  he said that when they do jumps, the army gives you a small bag in case you want to throw up.  otherwise, the etiquette rule is that you open your jumpsuit, and throw up into your left shoulder.  then zip yourself back up again.

jeez, if i can go up in an airplane and then jump out, i can do anything–and i trust reggie to show me how.

so sometime later this year, we’re going to take facebook friend sammie scruggs (reggie’s cousin) up in an airplane and fly!  sammie goes first, of course.  i’ll be the one gripping reggie’s hand so hard that his metacarpals break!