My life. My world. Love, hope, peace, joy & happiness.
What a memory! Can’t believe I retired from the military 14 years ago. I still can’t believe I was actually in the military!🤯
You never know where life will take you or what you’re capable of doing until you do it.
What a journey it was!♥️
I did that!!🙌🏽🙌🏽
Happy Women’s History Month!!
Good Morning!☀️
I have been watching interviews and reading reviews about The Six Triple Eight over the past few days, and all are true. The movie accurately portrays the strength of the Black woman and our ability to take on challenges and excel. We’ve always had to prove ourselves worthy of our positions and place in this world (even today). I know the mental anguish all too well. Believe me, I have my own military stories, as well as civilian ones. As Johnnie Mae kept saying, being in the military was no different from being back home. She and Charity Adams were my sheros in the movie.
So, when I wrote my initial thoughts about the movie, I chose to focus on Lena’s character and her journey. Not her journey as a soldier but her journey as a woman trying to navigate through pain and still perform as if everything was okay. Still trying not to give too much of the movie away. Yes, I know that pain as well. Mine may not have been caused by the same thing, but the pain was there. As I said, I have my own military stories.
As I wrote in my last post, the movie was awesome! It’s definitely a must see!
Praying you have a wonderful weekend!♥️
Love you,
Shaun
I finally watched The Six Triple Eight! I waited almost two years to see this movie, and it did not disappoint!
Y’all, I felt as if I had been transported back to the 1940s. However, I heard the commands of “dress right, dress,” calling the room to attention (I hated being that person), and the sounds of Reveille and Taps being played as if it were yesterday. It’s funny how I have been retired from the Air Force for almost 13 years, and tonight, I found myself unconsciously following some of the commands. I know I raised my hand to salute a few times, and I’m so glad I didn’t. I would have been so embarrassed.
One thing I didn’t expect was to cry as much as I did. I believe I cried during three-fourths of the movie, and the majority of it was during Lena’s scenes. I won’t say too much, but y’all, this was so much more than a military movie. It was a love story, a beautiful love story. I didn’t expect that at all! Again, I won’t say much more. You have to watch it.
Overall, the movie was great! Everything was phenomenal, from the writer (my fav – have to give him his flowers) and producers to the fabulous cast and settings! I can’t wait to watch it again tomorrow. Yeah… it was that good!
Here’s a clip of one of my favorite scenes, the marching scene. Y’all, this scene made me so proud. I felt like I was marching with them.☺️ 6888 Marching Scene (Facebook clip)
Well, this is all I have for today! Wishing you a peaceful night and blessed weekend.♥️
Love you,
Shaun
On this date 30 years ago, I embarked upon a journey that would change my life forever. Never in a million years did I imagine I would join the military. Never! It was one of many spontaneous leaps I would make over the past 30 years. Y’all, I am beyond grateful that I took that leap.
Thirty years…
Today I feel as if I’m embarking on another journey. Not sure where the next 30 years will take me; however, I know they will be just as adventurous. Also, I would like to note that a few thing’s have changed since 1992. I’m finally at peace. I know who I am and Whose I am. And I’m no longer afraid. God is good.
Here’s to the next 30 years and beyond! Speaking nothing but blessings over my life. Amen
Y’all enjoy your day!
Shaun
A little late with writing today, but all is well. I actually slept a good 6-7 hours. Which has not happened in ages. Guess I wore myself out cleaning out storage bins. Y’all, I am an organized mess. Lol! The bins look nice and neat until you lift the lids. They are filled with items from my military career, undergrad and grad school, bills, letters, pictures, magazines, books, movies, etc. When I say I keep everything, I keep EVERYTHING! Ugh!! I rarely throw anything away. Which is funny because I found a letter from one of my sisters that was written in 2001. She sent me a picture of my nephew and wrote, “I’m sending this to you because you keep everything.” Wow! That’s what I do.
I guess I should attempt to explain why I hold on to so many things. First of all, I shouldn’t refer to all of the items as “things,” but memorabilia. The majority of the items I don’t believe I’ll ever throw away. I have letters from friends and family dating back to 1980s. Last night I found cards my granddaddy sent me for holidays and birthdays. Something I will always cherish. These came from someone who spent his entire life trying to live up to his reputation of being this hard, cold individual. But later in life he would call just to say hello and tell me he loved me, and he would send cards. Then there’s my military memorabilia. I have uniforms, orders from different assignments, awards, evaluations. You name it, I probably have it. Will I part with them? Probably not. As I mentioned, I have work from undergraduate and graduate school. I worked too hard on some of those projects, I just can’t throw them away. My magazines! My magazines date back to the 90s. I have Jet, Essence, Ebony, Sister-2-Sister, Time, Legacy, Sports Illustrated, Beckett Sports, and a few others. I have local magazines. Newspaper articles of events or people I know. Honestly, I do not know what I’m going to do with all of these things. I told my kids that when I buy my forever home, I am going to have a room where I can display everything. I can see myself walking through the room with my grands (children, nieces, and nephews) telling them stories about all of the items. To me, that’s heaven.
Okay, as usual, I got a little off track. I also have pictures.. tons of pictures! I took pictures of everything!! I have pictures from high school. Pictures from basic training. Y’all, I was in there just snapping away. Lol. I have soooo many pictures. Right now I have over 17,000 images stored between my phone and cloud. I just can’t seem to bring myself to delete many of them. They are so much more than pictures. They’re memories! They represent times, places, and feelings. As a child, whenever I would visit family, all I wanted to do was look at old pictures and ask questions- “Who’s this?” “Where was this taken?” Those questions usually led to great stories. Now I have my own stories.
Anyhoo.. as you can see this Hello Sunday is very random. Just felt like sharing. I’m going to glance over it to make sure it somewhat makes sense, but I’m not going to do much editing. This is how I typed out my thoughts so I’m going to leave this as is. Authentically me.
Have a blessed Sunday!
Shaun
I was 19 years old when I joined the Air Force. Believe me, I had no idea of what I had gotten myself into; however, I knew I had to do something. At the time, I was heartbroken, too grown to continue living with my mother, and I was failing my first semester of college. Yeah.. I needed to do something. So I spontaneously joined the Air Force. Really! I put no real thought into it. As Nike says, “Just do it!” Well.. I did it!
Up until my first full day of basic training, I had no clue of what I had done. I had actually signed eight years of my life away– four active and four inactive, and it was all because I wanted to get away from home. Little did I know that I was giving up my freedom for the sake of others. That at anytime within those eight years I could possibly go to war. So no, I did not join because I was patriotic, I joined to get away.
Anyhoo.. It was during basic training that I discovered my true strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I had no idea my left arm was so strong! Well, I found out my first night/early morning at basic training. You see, my recruiter told me I needed to pack for basic training and technical school (which was to come afterwards). And pack I did! I brought two bags with me, one of which contained laundry detergent and an iron. I had clothes, makeup, shoes and purses. For some reason I had packed like I was going on vacation instead of boot camp. For years I blamed the recruiter when in reality it was all me! All Shaun!! I was like, “I’m not buying stuff I already have.” Too funny! Well, I paid for it.
That night (which was the only time) my training instructor/drill instructor got in my face and yelled at me. She asked me what was I thinking bring all that s**t with me. Y’all, I was soooo embarrassed. I was this 5’1 3/4”, 100 lb, sleep-deprived female being yelled at by a woman at least twice my size– okay, might be over exaggerating, but just a little–in front of over 100 airmen in my section. There were even more airmen further down. Well, of course I wasn’t the only one being yelled at, but it sure felt like it. As I said, I had no idea my left arm was so strong. She made me pick up both of my bags with my left hand and carry them around the building (which I later learned we were already at the entrance but they had to make everything DRAMATIC) and up five flights of stairs without dropping or dragging them. She put me at the end of the line because she didn’t want me “holding up” her line. That was the day I learned to pack light. Carryon luggage, only! Bae-bé, I can pack several days in a carryon. Skills!!
I have so many other stories about my eight weeks at Lackland AFB. To this day, I have no desire to revisit San Antonio. That one stay was enough. Overall, I am so grateful for the experience. Joining the military was like extending my family. The people I worked with, lived with, went clubbing and church with, toured with, all become part of my family. As many of you know, Ramstein, Germany was my first duty station. I knew absolutely no one when I got off the plane. However, I was greeted with so much love and camaraderie. Everyone, from my Chief to my roommate, made sure I had everything I needed. They were my family.
I could write sooo much more, but I don’t have time. Maybe one day I’ll write my memoirs. I’m so grateful God granted me that opportunity and experience. So grateful for all of the wonderful people I met along the way. We really had some good times.
For the past few years I have celebrated Veterans Day with my little sister, who served in the Navy. This year, because of COVID-19, and a few other things, I won’t be able to spend it with her. Our ritual is to get as many freebies as possible. We usually spend the entire day hitting up one restaurant after another. It’s pretty awesome, and even more awesome because we spend the day with our fellow veterans. So I am dedicating this blog to her. Thank you for your service, Shartese! And you too, Sarah!! She’s my other little sister who served in the Army but acts like she didn’t. Lol!
Happy Veterans Day to my fellow veterans; and from one vet to another, thank you so much for your service!
Shaun
It’s Shaun’s World 
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