Here it is almost eleven. The family is gone again, so the house is quiet.  I believe they went on a bike ride today. I know I should probably we with them, but truthfully I don't leave the house the very much. I couldn't even tell you the last time I was more than 5 miles away from my house.

I woke up feeling somewhat motivated today.  My body is sore all over. It's weird...a few days a week I wake up and my body feels like it was hit by a truck. I would rather have the "hit by a truck" soreness than the "I don't want to get out of bed" feeling any day!

Ok...so I should probably get back on track of where I left off [yesterday](https://steemit.com/writing/@lexikon082/little-to-no-motivation-for-the-day). A time when I remember having dreams and motivation for my future...
<p><center><img src="http://img.picturequotes.com/2/6/5160/every-day-begins-with-an-act-of-courage-and-hope-getting-out-of-bed-quote-1.jpg"/></center></p>
<center>Picture from picturequotes.com</center>
<h1><center> The Beginning Of My 9/11 Journey</center></h1> 

So, I joined the National Guard to pay for college when I was 17 through a program called "split-option". Basically, I could go to Army Basic Training between my Junior and Senior year of high school and then learn my military job after I graduated. I remember my parents thinking I was crazy when I asked for their signature on my enlistment contract. I didn't know a thing about the military when I joined. I basically met a soldier who was judging a marketing competition I was participating in through school.  I began asking questions about the service and the next thing I know I was in contact with a recruiter. I took the job that gave me the largest bonus...Truck Driver...88M in military terms. A guy who scored above a 90 on the ASVAB...becoming a truck driver...stranger things have happened. I graduated  Basic Training in August of 2000 from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and I graduated high school in 2001. I felt like I was on my way to changing the trajectory of my family tree!
<p><center><img src="https://suedesofa.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/family-tree.jpg?w=500"/></center></p>

<center>Picture from Lara @ [thesuedesofa](https://thesuedesofa.com/tag/change-family-tree/)</center>



<h1><center> An Interesting Side Note</center></h1> 
Even though I graduated high school, I did not get to walk across the stage. Ever hear of those students getting in trouble for a senior prank? I was one of those students! The craziest thing is the majority of our trouble was due to eggs being thrown at Plexiglas and it was a different group of seniors who showed up (the same night) and threw the eggs! Our prank was way more creative! Our idea was to use cones and caution tape to shut down the parking lot entrance to the school...in hopes people would turn around and go home the next day! Well, needless to say a video was made of the whole ordeal (I know dumb) and let's just say it ended up in the hands of the principle. Dead to Rights....The Senior Class President (me) would not be walking across the stage.
<p><center><img src="https://memecrunch.com/meme/S21U/look-son-a-dumbass/image.png?w=400&c=1"/></center></p>
<center>Picture from memecrunch.com</center>
<h1><center> September, 11th 2001</center></h1> 
Ok, so that's the condensed version of the back story of how I ended up in the military. The day I knew my life would change forever was September 11th, 2001. I was enrolled at the University of Akron...my first semester as a college student! I remember being  in the Student Union with a friend of mine, David, and he loved to play pool. I had some time before my next class so I decided to play a round with him. There was a TV in the corner next to our pool table. The next thing I know people start gathering around the TV next to our table. I could see it because it was high in the corner near the ceiling. I see a plane hitting the WTC and the news announcer says it was the second plane that hit.

*I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG*. I had a feeling of "oh shit...this is not good...should I call my unit".

Things were still chaotic at this time. My next class was within 20 minutes or so of seeing the planes hit on TV. Since, everyone was still unsure of what was happening I went ahead and went to Algebra class. My fiancé had the same class with me, so it was a good idea to go. Everyone was talking about what just happened. It's during this class I witnessed one of the craziest things I have seen/heard in my life and I will never forget it.

So there we are in this Algebra class after witnessing the World Trade Center being hit. I don't believe at this time the towers had fallen yet. So, people are talking in class and wondering if we should leave campus. Our professor was a red haired Russian with freckles and a deep deep accent you could barely understand. I shit you not....we are all sitting there and the hysteria is slowly building among students...The Russian Professor literally gets up in front of the class and says in her deep accent, " I don't understand why the hysteria. Things like this happen in my country all the time". I was shocked and felt sad for her all at the same time. She said it so calm, so matter-of-factly.

I finished the Fall semester at the University of Akron. and  I did not attend the next semester. My National Guard unit needed people to guard the Armory. I spent the majority of the beginning of 2002 rotating at the Armory doing overnight guard duty. It was during this same time the unit started needing people to work on vehicles and squaring away our equipment. I volunteered for many of these assignments too. I knew something had to be coming down the pipeline, because we were doing so much work on our vehicles and equipment. It was just a hunch I had, but a hunch that turned out to be true.

It was about the middle of 2003 we got our orders to prepare to deploy. Rumor was we would be going to Turkey. Lol, Turkey. I wish.
<p><center><img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2016/07/07/world/06chilcotblog-14/06chilcotblog-14-tmagArticle.jpg"/></center></p>
<center>Picture from Ray Stubblebine/Reuters</center>

***
Part 3 will be continued in the future. If you enjoyed this post please like and [![alt text](https://img1.steemit.com/0x0/http://i.imgsafe.org/dd8bd8753d.gif)](https://steemit.com/@lexikon082)</center>