Juan and I first spoke to each other during marching practice. He was marching next to me; very obviously on the wrong foot. I know he will tell you it was the other way around, but I promise, I remember it like it was yesterday- when the Drill Sgt said, “LEFT,” he was stepping with his right foot. Being helpful, I whispered that he was on the wrong foot, and he, of course, argued with me saying he wasn’t…and thus began our beautiful relationship. Our arguing about marching turned into flirting and innocent hand-holding (when no one was looking). We sat together whenever we could - cleaning weapons, shining boots, doing laundry, etc. Since males and females weren’t allowed to have relationships during boot camp, we tried to keep our feelings subtle. One afternoon, we both got called up to the Drill Sgt's office… we knew we were doomed! As it turned out, though, we were both receiving awards for being outstanding soldiers... Crazy, right?!
But we couldn’t escape our fate… 8 days before graduation, three jealous girls tattled on us. The Drill Sgts took us aside, separately, to question us about our relationship. As I’ve been told, Juan lied through his teeth and said nothing was going on between us. I, on the other hand, told them EVERYTHING… even that we had kissed…twice! Yikes! (I’ve never been a good liar; I blush too easily). Amongst our various punishments, I’ll never forget when we had to stand in front of Drill Sgt George while he played the song “She’s Got a Spell on You.” Man was my face red!
Following graduation, Juan followed through with his promise to visit me in WI for my birthday. So, on September 11th, 2001, he boarded the airplane for his 8am flight. Like everyone else, I’ll never forget when I saw that plane crash into the World Trade Center. I just thought, “Oh my gosh, please let Juan be okay!” I was still a senior in high school and neither of us had a cell phone, so I had no way to talk with him until I could pick him up during my lunch hour. When I finally arrived at the airport, I hugged him and asked if he was ok; all he said was, “yeah, but this airport is weird… do they always interview everyone when they get off the plane?" You see, to keep everyone calm, the stewardesses on his plane did not inform any of the passengers what had happened in NY. Then, when he got into the airport, all of the TVs had been turned off. Without a cell phone, no one had been able to talk to him, so he had no idea what had happened!
Everyone was relieved to find out he was safe, and he was still in shock after I finished telling him about the morning he (thankfully) missed. Patriot’s Day, as it is known now, is a day of sadness for most, but for us, it’s quite a happy day. Not only is it my birthday, but it’s also a day we remember to be very thankful for each other!