Missing My "Political Activista"!

The election season makes me think of Scarlett, one of my favorite friends who is the most passionate person I've ever met (especially when it comes to politics). She's half Puerto Rican so she was born with a distinct advantage of winning arguments based on her ability to throw out facts & figures at the speed of light with all the heat & conviction of a jalepeno pepper (going to law school helped a bit too). She just sent me a sweet email that made me start to reminiss. (That's her and I with Admiral Cullison's wife when we served on the Oakleaf board together.) We met in Virginia (our girls Marissa and Emma became best friends) and we helped each other through some of the hardest years of our lives. Together we survived 5 year surgical residency programs with 3 kids and husbands who lived at the hospital. We were in the Head & Neck/ENT Surgical program they were in the Orthopedic Surgical program. I say "we" were in the program because if you ask any wife who has gone through this type of medical training with their husbands and actually stayed married they will tell you that it's a shared experience of chronic stress, late-night arguments, special occasions missed or interrupted because of constantly being on-call, helping their husbands spend their "time off" studying for the next morning of "pimping" (a barrage of questions from attending physicians), helping with research, being there to support them in their darkest hours of frustration and their life line to continue on through sleep deprivation and 100 hour work weeks. Only someone who has been through this type of intense training program will understand (not all residencies are alike). Scarlett was also my right hand woman when I was Oakleaf President (a Navy service organization) in Portsmouth, she was my 1st Vice President. We shared the same vision of changing the focus of our club from being a social/service group for mainly senior officer wives to more of a support and service organization to help junior officer spouses survive residency (like us). We managed to double the membership and raised thousands of dollars for the hospital (with the help of our amazing auction committee) and sympathetic business owners who donated their services for our auction (they had a hard time saying no to my pregnant belly and 2 kids in tow). But as they say in the Navy "no good deed goes unpunished." We did have to endure some serious drama from a couple of the "career" spouses. They didn't like any idea that wasn't theirs and getting their feathers ruffled by no-name resident wives like us (who planned on getting out of the Navy). It's frustrating for people who have to kiss *** to be around other people who don't have to kiss *** . We were such rebels, but with a good cause which the junior officer wives appreciated because we helped make the club more down-to-earth with our family-friendly activities and support systems. We cried on each other's shoulders after meetings where our "advisor" would say negative things and make under-her-breath remarks about our ideas (as if we weren't stressed enough going through residency & both being pregnant with our 3rd). I remember one time Scarlett called me really upset from all the drama and ready to quit her volunteer position with Oakleaf. I told her if you quit then I'm quitting with you! We were such loyal friends, supporting each other through thick & thin. To quote McCain she's "an oak among saplings". But one of her most endearing qualities is her undying love for our country and protecting its freedom (did I also mention her dad is a Marine who served in Iraq?) I miss speaking with her about current events and politics on a regular basis (instead of the same old SAHM talk about kids, housework and shopping). She was always listening to Talk Radio at home, in the car, wherever so that when we met at the park, our kids' ballet class, at the gym or pool she could catch me up on the latest commentary about the war and what's going on in Washington. Right now she is 8 months pregnant (with her 4th child) and is out there campaigning for McCain/Palin with the heart of a lion! She's even naming her daughter "Sarah" in honor of our next V.P :) (A woman after my own heart). I volunteered on McCain's campaign several years ago in San Diego when the RNC came to town. They thought I was Hispanic (I'm darker in the summer) and because there aren't many female minorities in the Republican party I was quickly escorted to the front row where the cameras could see me. But I never ended up meeting McCain. The year prior I stood in line to have his book "Faith of My Fathers" signed for Sean & my dad (McCain reminded me of my dad because they were both Navy pilots who went to the Academy and flew in Vietnam.) But after an hour of waiting, I gave my books to a friend who was in line too so I could go to my other friend's debut performance in a local musical. I regret not waiting around and meeting McCain but at least my Dad and Sean have personalized books signed by our future President. :) Scarlett, I admire how dedicated you are to your beliefs and your conviction about our great nation. You are a true patriot and have been such an inspiration to me. I wish you were here in Japan, we could go around base trying to convince people to send in their absentee ballots and letting them know that "every vote counts". Please listen to the song "Capri" on this playlist because it reminds me of you. I know that precious baby girl you are carrying will not only be blessed with your stunning beauty but more importantly with your strength of character, moral integrity and passionate spirit. I miss you so much! All my love....K