After high school a friend of mine joined the Air Force. She got pregnant without meaning to and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I told my dad I wanted to visit her and the baby. He wanted to send me to Valdosta, Georgia on an airplane but I said no. A bus would be alright. That way I could also enjoy the scenery of the south and some random company.
So off I went. Valdosta was a pretty cool place. It was warmer, and rainy when I got there. Nancy had a small car-- the kind that Uncle Ray woulda called a "puddle jumper" with a loosening steering block. The thing shook like crazy whenever Nancy gunned the accelerator at speeds of over 50. Nancy was a frustrated race car driver.
Nancy lived off-base in a double-wide. The Air Force had paid for delivery of Leah, and for all medical care for the both of them. During the time I was there, Nancy was on paid leave. It sounded like a pretty good deal. Leah's dad, I don't remember what the story was with him, except that Nancy and he had a parting of ways. The three of us went to Base in Nancy's puddle jumper, roamed around Valdosta, and ate pizza. [Well, the baby didn't eat pizza]. Nancy showed me how to split the legs of jeans and add a couple of panels of materials to make a long skirt.
I came home on the bus too. Nancy and I lost track of each other through the years. I'd heard that she and Leah went to Greece with the Air Force. After that, I don't know. I suspect that Nancy made her career with the Air Force. And that Leah grew up to be what she appeared to be when I met her-- intelligent and charming.
sapphoq on life
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