With the tropical sun beating down and the eyes of over 100 soldiers on him, Luis was promoted on Friday to Lieutenant Colonel.
The ceremony took place in the grassy area outside of the office where Luis works. It was well attended because Luis, or El Fuego, is well loved in the ranks.
To my surprise and horror, I had to stand next to Luis during the dog and pony show and even had a small role. Luis' boss, LTC Sims, gave an entertaining if lengthy summary of Luis' storied career starting with his first job at age 12 as a political cartoonist. It was touching and funny and would have been more appreciated if I had a hat or was standing in the shade or hearing it without all those people staring in my general direction. How I suffer for my country.
My job, besides standing there nodding and smiling like a political wife, was to remove the velcroed major patch and replace it with the new patch. The new patch looks exactly the same as the old one except it has a black leaf instead of a gold one. It looks kind of like a star but as Luis emphatically told me once, it is NOT a star, it's a leaf. Okay.
Finally, LTC Sims and Luis did the oath thing and it was over. Or so I thought. Afterwards there was a receiving line where all 100 plus people came through and shook both of our hands. Almost every one of them looked me in the eye and said, "congratulations" as if I had done something more significant than pick a good man to marry. Despite the fact that I congratulate myself every day for making such an excellent choice, I didn't know how to respond other than an awkward "thank you?" It was a lovely ceremony and I am very proud of my husband.
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