Jimmy Carter Presidential Center

I'm feeling bad about my last blog! Sorry to those of you who actually took the time to read it. My kids said that it was oddly unsettling. Guess I should go to bed at a reasonable hour, and not blog :-).....

Anywho.......

Before leaving Atlanta, we had to visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center which contains the Carter library along with displays and artifacts from his youth, presidency, and post-presidency. President Carter his one of our heroes, a man before his time in my opinion. It has been said that he is one of our best ex-presidents. He could have retired to the golf course, but instead, he and his wife have worked tirelessly in the service of humanity. He is also a great author. One of my all-time favorite books is "An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood."

I love their wedding outfits. Jimmy and Rosalynn were married shortly after he graduated from the naval academy. He had planned to be a career submariner, and spent his short career working on the development of nuclear submarines. However, when his father died, he returned to Plains, GA to run the family business.

There was a full-size replica of the oval office in the Center. Hum, Dane, Mr. PoliSci Army Officer Future Lawyer looks pretty good. I wonder.....

Dane's Graduation

Last week, we watched our son, Dane, graduate from Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, GA. His class, 008-010, was known as "Crusher Company". He received the Distinguished Academic Graduate Award having earned a 99.27% on all his testing - not too shabby, Dane.

After graduation, per tradition, John uncovered his Lieutenant bars.

Here he is with his cadre, Capt. Brown, Sergeant Rosado, and Cpt. Cox. He had a great time working with them! After the graduation, his First Sergeant and Commander told us a very funny story about Dane - something to do with legs and a very, very long marathon to Savannah, GA they all ran together. I'll have to get Dane to tell that story some day.

Sister Kristin

We're not really sure what he was doing there, but 3 Star General Pollett attended the graduation, and was one for the first to congratulate Dane on his award. As I have never met a 3 star general - in my life, I wasn't really sure of his rank until my husband pointed it out to me. He very nicely agreed to pose for me AND asked Kristin and I to pose with him.

I really, really, really HATE this picture of me as I feel (and hope) it bears no resemblance to me in the least, but how often do I get to have my picture taken with a 3 star general! My husband tells me there are only a few of them around. He seems like such a nice man!

Having gone through Basic Training and then OCS right afterwards, Dane made some great friends. Alex, on the right, was the first person he met in Basic Training. Alex's mom described them as two of the same person - too cool for school. We had a fun time with Alex, his family and friends, and Clint (middle) and his wife at lunch after graduation. More very funny stories were told. Honestly, too bad there weren't any Hollywood screen writers taking notes.

Well done, Men!

Hooah