Veterans Day

Veterans day in my family is something special for sure. Service is something that is special and common amongst the members of my family aswell. For generations past, my family has been in just about every branch from the Navy to the Coast Guard, and also the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

For as many generations as we can look back, the Aldens, my mom's dad's side of the family, has served in the Navy. My great-grandfather met my great-grandmother while stationed in Bermuda, and they had my Grandfather. He joined the Navy where he met my Grandmother who was also in the intelligence department of the Navy, stationed on Church Street in NYC. Her father was in the US Army during the first World War. He drove munitions and supplies up to the front at night, and drove back during the day. When he came home, he believed he had used up all of his luck driving during the war and never drove again.

Their third daughter, Mary, enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school. She then proceeded to go to college in Philadelphia and earned her degree. She became a lab tech and was ultimately stationed at McGuire AFB in Wrightstown, NJ. There she met USAF Captain Ed States. He had gone to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Ed was a pilot who flew C-141s at McGuire. The two of them got married a few years later and had me.

Ever since I was a young lad, I have wanted to join the military and continue the tradition that was started many generations before me, and here at Elmira I am getting that opportunity. I joined the AFROTC Det. 520 at Cornell University in September, and on Sunday I marched in my first Veterans Day parade. It was an experience that I found to be sort of emotional. For years and years now my family has marched, led, organized, or attended parades on Veterans Day, and now it is my turn and I feel blessed for the opportunity to do so.

Aside from my family members listed above, I have had a cousin in the Coast Guard, an Uncle in the Marines, a cousin who is a cadet in the US Army battalion at JMU, and a grandfather in the Army. Veterans day is a very important holiday in our family, and it is something that we take with great pride.

Halloween Spooks

Saturday night was the first halloween in college for my friends and I, and it sure was a doozy.

The night started with my roommate and I having the single best costume ever, and the purchasing of the costume starts the saga of Halloween 2009.

We decided, with the help of a friend, to be Brennan and Dale from the movie Step Brothers. On Thursday afternoon my roommate Albert, my friend Will, and I went to the Party Store, Target, Khols and Salvation Army to work on our costumes. Albert and I ended up wearing khakii pants, purple button down shirts, argile sweater vests, and curley haired wigs. To say the least, we might as well have been in the movie ourselves.

At salvation army, Albert made the purchase that may one day save our lives. He found a "Y2K Survival Guide, hosted by Leonard Nemoy". It cost his all of $4 and if used properly might be able to save our lives in 2012 when the Myan callender comes to an end...who knows?

Halloween night was a blast, hanging out with friends and eating massive amounts of candy. The really spooky part of the weekend happened last night in Will's room. According to Will, he woke out of no where, rolled over and saw a mysterious white figure standing there staring at him. At this point he grabbed his glasses put them on, and the white was still there, but kind of blocked out by the light from his window. He then rolled over and said "I don't believe in ghosts" twict and went to bed.

I personally don't believe him because ghosts don't exist. If they did then how come he just went back to sleep? I'd definately want to ask that ghosts a few questions, such as Who are you? What happened to you? How is ghost life? I wouldn't just roll over and go back to sleep.