Run Duck Run!

During summer breaks away from VMI, on the weeks when I wasn't aboard a Navy ship during my midshipmen summer training cruises, I was off earning my keep and being a contributing member of the society known as Virginia Beach.  Many of my college peers were smart enough to strap on business attire and do administrative support type work in cushy, air-conditioned offices for their temporary summer jobs.  As for me, I was barely one level above an illegal migrant worker hopping into the back of a total stranger's pickup truck loaded with farm animals to break my back with some serious blister-producing man labor.  And you know what, I've got zero regrets about sweating my tail off during those "summer breaks."  There's something very humbling about good old-fashioned manual labor.  We need to teach our kids this lesson.  God loves a hard worker.

And so my destiny in life for a few summers was to be a member of the Timberlake Community Association maintenance crew.  Our charter was to keep the homeowner's association happy by maintaining the grounds.  We were the silent refrigerator trolls that scurried around out of sight, beautifying the neighborhood and raising property values whenever the refrigerator door closed.  We landscaped, cut grass with tractors and mowers, manicured the curbs with edgers, and took a weedeater to every square inch of that huge community.

Whenever a private homeowner was lax with their lawn mowing duties of their own personal property, they would receive a nasty-gram from the homeowner's association.  If they didn't cut their grass after several warnings, the association would call in the maintenance crew to cut the slacker's yard - whether they wanted it cut or not.  It was communism at its finest.  The cherry on top was the over-inflated bill these slackers would receive in their mailbox shortly after the covert grass cutting.  These homeowners were never pleased to have total strangers cutting their yards.

I remember one angry old man standing in his doorway as we're about to crank up our faithful Toro mower, cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth with two inches of ash barely hanging on, beer-stained wifebeater t-shirt covering his gut, and double-barreled shotgun at his side.  I swear I heard him mutter under his Pabst Blue Ribbon breath, "Go ahead, mow my lawn."  Yeah, we weren't gonna take a chance on that one.  Considering that the best years of our lives were still in front of us and that our current salaries were just a smidge north of minimum wage, we collectively decided that we wouldn't test that guy's resolve on that sweltering day.  I can imagine that old guy's explanation while proudly standing over our dead corpses, "They were on my property officer!"

We encountered a wide gamut of characters during these attempted "forced mowings."  At one end of the spectrum was the trigger happy old man wielding a shotgun.  At the other end was the slightly attractive cougar clad in her open bathrobe revealing enough cleavage to make Christina Aguilera blush.  Btw, have you seen Christina as a judge and mentor on the singing competition show, "The Voice?"  My gosh girl, cover those things up.  It's incredibly distracting.  Makes for a titillating show, but still.  Anyway, back to the cougar.  I think this Mrs. Robinson wannabe was purposely letting her garden grow just so she could get a rise out of our sweaty band of migrant workers.  It worked.

And so one of the funniest memories from my days as an, ahem, Professional Landscape Technician, was when one of the filipino guys on the crew started eyeballing the ducks.  It was a nice neighborhood with several quaint ponds.  The ducks were plentiful.  During the spring, the yellow ducklings would follow Mama duck around.  Cars would politely stop as the train of ducks would cross the streets.  Very cute stuff.

Well, my filipino buddy hadn't been in the US for all that long.  His accent was still very thick and more importantly, his attitude on life was still thick with the filipino culture and life challenges.  It can be tough living in the Philippines to say the least.  I saw that with my own two eyes when I visited my parents in the PI back in 2008.  Depending on where you live, food can be hard to come by, especially meat.

As time passed, my buddy's infatuation with the ducks steadily grew.  It was pretty funny watching this grown man chase the ducks around and never catching them.  This guy knew how to make us laugh.  The work we were doing was back breaking stuff.  I felt like the kid from Charlie Brown that always had the dust cloud surrounding him.  I had multiple callouses on my hands from whacking weeds all day long and was extremely dark from hours sweating under that Virginia Beach sun.  And so my friend's dalliance with the ducks was much needed comic relief.

Until one day, he chased down one of the neighborhood ducks, caught it, took it home, cooked it, and ate it for dinner.

I guess he wasn't joking after all.  I'm pretty sure he only did it once.

Talent Show!

CJ was a good friend tonight in coming out to the Arlington Middle School Talent Show to support his buddy Sean.  That's Sean in the middle with the kilt.  He was awesome with the bagpipes tonight.  How many 13 year olds do you know that can play the bagpipes?

Sean and CJ

I hate to admit it, but I was groaning a little as I'm rushing home from work to take CJ to the Talent Show this evening.  I didn't know about the event until today.  I was thinking about all the work that I needed to finish up and how I really didn't have time to do this.  Blah, blah, blah.  What an idiot I am for even thinking that way.  Navy Personnel Command is like a treadmill.  There's always work and it's always gonna keep going.  It never stops.  But these teenage years are gonna zoom by like the blink of an eye.  Parents need to remind themselves to relish their time with their kids.  Me included.  You see, during the Talent Show two years ago at the Busan Foreign School, I was a grump-butt and didn't go.  Well, I went, but I didn't go inside for some no good reason.  Dumb Chris.

I think CJ was glad that we got to do this together tonight.  One of my favorite things these days is just chatting w/ Ceej at night before he goes to bed.  No particular topic.  Just whatever is on our minds.  Inevitably, we end up laughing about something.  It wasn't that long ago where instead of laughing, I'd find something to nitpick on or to get mad about.  Who wants that kind of talk?  So anyway, you have to take advantage of the fun stuff.  And tonight was one of those times.

The Talent Show reminded me of a couple of things.  Adele is still popular, playing a guitar is still cool, and youth is still king.  The reality is, not everyone on that stage can be a superstar.  But you can go out there and give it your all - whether it's shuffling around a deck of cards for some magic tricks, tap dancing your little heart out in your leotards, or making beautiful sounds spill out of a bagpipe.  It's all good.  Some of those kids were terrified on that stage.  But they got out there.  AND THEY DID IT.  They deserved every single clap and woot-woot from the crowd.  It was heartwarming to hear the positive audience response for every act, no matter if a falsetto note was a little off the mark, a piano stroke off timing, a magic trick inadvertently revealed, or a microphone left in the off position.

I couldn't help but sway to the music and smile at the brashness of it all.  How many times has fear stopped us from saying something to the boss or maybe asking a question in a public forum?  How many times do we hold our tongues anytime there's a crowd?  Maybe we don't even answer the phone because we aren't ready to talk to the person on the other end of the caller ID?  No such timidness from the kids of Arlington Middle School.  Bravery and brashness is what I saw on that stage tonight.  And I loved it.

We had dueling violinists, tap dancers, a magician, guitarists, pianists, and of course some impressive vocalists.  We even had an original number from a New Orleans Saints fan crooning on her favorite football player - the not-so-heralded number 16, wide receiver Lance Moore.  Lance would've been proud.  And what a nice treat for me for the final act.  It was one of my favorite songs, Randy Travis' "I Told You So."  Really good stuff.

So I take back my previous statement.  They were all superstars tonight.  And to think that I almost didn't come.  Dumb Chris.

Yeah, it did bring back some memories from my own Talent Show many moons ago.  That's when the Fil-Am Rockers brought down the house at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach with an awesome breakdancing performance to the song, "Breaker's Revenge."

Wordless Wednesday - Joel and John

2011 Year in Review - Part II

Whoops.  Forgot to post this one before I went on travel.  So here's the other half of 2011:

Jena got to hang out with the Honky Tonk Cruzers in Tennessee after a fun vacation week in Miami.  Of course we got our fishing on at nearby Garner Lake.  She crushed me.  She was catching bass, catfish, crappie, and blue gill.  I was catching a cold.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Seeing her so giddy over her fishing bounty made it a highly successful day on the lake for the both of us.    

In July, I took a work trip along with some of the other detailers and placement officers from Navy Personnel Command to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  You might have heard about JSOC in the news after the OBL mission went down.  They are one of the commands that I place for.  My brother Lee is stationed at Fort Bragg so we got to catch up a bit.  The bonus was doing some indoor skydiving with the JSOC folks.  Very cool.

For CJ's 13th birthday, he jokingly asked for a 5 pound gummy bear, a kazoo, and a shark with a laser attached to his head.  So what did we get him?  A 5 pound gummy bear, a kazoo, and a shark with a laser attached to his head.  Mission accomplished.  Due to the summer heat, the gummy bear arrived in the mail as a large gelatinous mass.  Not good.  The kazoo was a big hit.  He's belting out "Rolling in the Deep" and "Edge of Glory" like there's no tomorrow.  And here he is with the shark.  I made the laser myself.

So glad the family got to attend my good friend Hoss' retirement ceremony in Meridian, Mississippi. Hoss and I were roommates during our Department Head tour with the VS-30 Diamondcutters.  The second set of wings under Hoss' ribbons are from his time in England flying Harriers.

More travel in July.  This is the US Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs.  They are one of 10 Combatant Commands (COCOMs) that I place for.  I'm the Placement Officer for all of the COCOMs, which means I provide them with their Navy officers.  There is one less COCOM now that Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has disestablished.  Now I know why everyone wants orders to NORTHCOM.  It's gorgeous up there.  NORTHCOM was established after the 9/11 attacks.

Speaking of JFCOM, I had another trip to Norfolk, Virginia to work the many disestablishment details.  The disestablishment kept me busy for several months.  Nice to have that behind me.  Got to see some good friends in my old stomping grounds in Virginia.  This is me, Lani, and Ruben at the Goo Goo Dolls Concert in Portsmouth.  A good friend of mine was nice enough to get us tickets.  Always nice catching up with friends.

Speaking of catching up, Jake and Hannah had a ball spending time together during the Allen's trip to Memphis.  These two were besties from their Korea days.  The thoughts of being close to the Allens for our next tour is pretty exciting.

More travel.  This time to Stuttgart, Germany for some business with European Command and Africa Command.  Awesome place.  I really enjoyed running through their nature trails.  They've got them all over the place.  I got to take in a nice wine festival during my trip.  Every time I push someone's orders to Stuttgart, I know that I'm making dreams come true.

Things are bigger in Texas, except for the Alamo.  It was much smaller than I thought.  The trip to San Antonio was to visit the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center at Lackland Air Force Base.  The JIOWC is a part of Strategic Command.

In September, I was part of the Seaman to Admiral 21 Selection Board held in Pensacola, Florida.  This board picks the best and brightest enlisted sailors to go through this special program to eventually get commissioned as Navy officers.  I got to catch up with Katrina and her boyfriend Tom.  I will be eternally grateful to Katrina for introducing me to Carol.

October was a big month for the Cruz household.  CJ got baptized!  Love this picture.

San Diego for Fall Break!  This is one of many pictures of the Pose from 2011.

An Alabama Thanksgiving.  The girls decided against doing the Pose.

In December, we did a quick weekend trip to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  Gotta do it if you get the opportunity.  They do military specials every now and then so check those out.  Although we didn't see the Rockettes, we did get to catch a live show with Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, and the Madagascar Penguins.

And to round out the year, we had the Cruz Christmas Palooza in Memphis.  Lots of laughs, food, and toilet paper.  Here we are hovering over the newest Cruz - Sammy!

Chilling with their newest cousin.

It was great having Mom visit all the way from the Philippines.  Too bad Dad couldn't make it.

Graceland!

New Year's Eve 70's Party to roll in 2012!

And there we go.  So like a good Navy family, we're prepping for the next set of orders and the new duty station.  More on that later.  Hope you all have a great 2012!

Flashback Friday - Ike!

My best guess is 1977 or 1978 for this picture.  From left to right is Lee, Darby Alan, me in the blue and red shirt, Beanie and of course Mom sitting in the Monte Carlo.  Here we are at the Naval base in Norfolk, Virginia in front of Dad's ship, the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN-69), affectionately known as Ike.  I know the picture isn't from 1976 because the ship was commissioned in 1977.  

Beanie is rocking his Happy Days "Fonzie" t-shirt, complete with the word "Aaayyy!" emblazoned across his chest and Henry Winkler with his signature leather jacket, white t-shirt and two big thumbs up.  I'm pretty sure Mom made at least one or two pieces of clothing that you see in this picture.  She's always been quite the seamstress.

Our dark blue Monte Carlo is almost brand new in this picture.  A young enlisted sailor with five kids buying a brand new car?  Well, I probably would've advised against that as a Division Officer but it worked out okay for Petty Officer Alfredo Cruz.  Lots of memories in this car to include several bouts of carsickness; my brother taking the car for a non-approved joy ride with no driver's license and getting into an accident with a pregnant lady; and a trip to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia that resulted in the fire department busting the car window to put out a fire inside the car.  The last thing you expect to hear after riding the Loch Ness Monster roller coaster is your name being paged over a loudspeaker.

The A-7 Corsair on the left has long since been decommissioned, just like the attack jet that replaced it, the venerable A-6 Intruder.  On the top right is the E-2 Hawkeye and it's huge round radar, or as I used to tell the kiddies while giving tours on the flight deck, the in-flight helicopter landing pad.  The Hawkeyes are still going strong unlike my beloved S-3B Viking.  Hey, times change.  And that's a good thing.

Dad served as an MS, or Mess Specialist aboard the Ike.  They've since changed the name to CS for Culinary Specialist.  Basically, he was a cook for the Navy.  Very tough work feeding 5,000 people three hots a day.  When my dad joined the Navy, the reality back then was that if you were black or filipino, you were going to be a cook.  That's just the way things were.  There certainly weren't any black or filipino commanding officers during the early part of my dad's career.  He served 23 years as an MS.  It wasn't an easy career but he did what he had to do not only to feed the 5,000 aboard the carrier, but also the five kids at home.

Today, sailors have the opportunity to do whatever they want if they work hard enough.  They can be jet engine mechanics, musicians, intelligence specialists, logisticians, special forces, search and rescue aircrew - almost anything you can think of.  I'm extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to fly jets, lead some great sailors, be the commanding officer of MSCO Korea and most importantly, serve my country.  Carol and I are planning a trip to San Diego so we can see our good friend take over as commanding officer of a US Navy warship.  BTW, he's African American.  Hey, times change.  And that's a good thing.

Happy Friday!

25 Years Ago

Let's start with one year ago:

A year ago, Carol and I were at a function hosted by the Korean American Busan Association or KABA.  That's Mr. Cho, the KABA President and his wife.  

On that night, KABA made me an honorary member of their organization.  It was an incredibly kind gesture of friendship.  I really enjoyed our relationship.

Five years ago, we were enjoying the snow of Newport, Rhode Island.  I was at the Naval War College.

Carol and Jake - the Great Big Ball of Baby Goodness!  Jake was born in Newport.

Ten years ago, we were stationed in San Diego.  I was a Flight Instructor at VS-41, the Fleet Replacement Squadron for the S-3B Viking.  Here's the wardroom at the I-Bar at Naval Air Station North Island.

I had the great pleasure of volunteering with Balboa Elementary School while stationed with VS-41.  These are the kids from my class during a field trip at the squadron.

So now we're talking fifteen years ago.  Here's me and Steve "Whip" Blasch as young Lieutenants with the Scouts of VS-24.  This is in Puerto Rico right before our flight where we shot a Harpoon missile.  It was an awesome shot too.

It's not all work with a squadron.  Here are the Scouts during a port call at Saint Martin.  We named the Greek statue, "Freeballicus."  Epic port call.

Rewinding even further, twenty years ago, I was the Alpha Company Commander at the Virginia Military Institute.  That's me leading the company during a parade.  I'm fairly certain I was the shortest guy in the entire company.  Didn't bother me one bit.

Carol and I are making plans now for the 20th college reunion.  My turn to be a spectator at the VMI parades instead of a participant.

And last but not least (well maybe least as far as weight), this picture is from 25 years ago.  As a senior, I was wrestling in the 105 pound weight class for Kellam High School in Virginia Beach.

While I enjoyed the competition and challenge of wrestling, the cutting weight part was no fun.  At least I got this cheerful picture out of it.

Thanks for flipping through the photo album with me.  Time flies.  Wonder what the next 25 years will bring?

New Year's Eve Memory

I ran across these pictures as I was clearing up hard drive space on the iMac.  As we're about to ring in 2011, here's a New Year's Eve moment some of you Virginia Beach friends might remember.

I'm thinking I was in the 8th or 9th grade when we had a New Year's Eve party at my folks' house in Salem Village.  Breakdancing was in full effect.  I was a member of the Fil-Am Rockers breakdancing group.  We were a very credible group that had bookings for performances and everything.  I remember performing at some of the hotels on the boardwalk, a couple of festivals and even doing a gig for a Senator.  Hey, he was a  State Senator but who's counting?  Most of the members were at the house that night..the night IT happened.  IT was Billy Cassity's incredible headspin:

Bill Shree executed the most awesome headspin ever on that memorable night.  I forget how many revolutions he made or how long he was in the air.  It must've been at least a half hour - in Inception time.  We were in shock as it happened and erupted in giddy screams of joy, laughter and congratulations after it happened.  It was as if we were watching Michelangelo laying on his back painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Thank you for that headspin Bill Shree - a humble Spaniard who delivered the morning newspaper to earn his wages (yes, a paper route) and drove an old monster Cadillac to school everyday that brazenly occupied three parking spots.  Bill would always live on in breakdancing lore because of his New Year's Eve accomplishment.

On the left is Ant Brown covering his eyes in disbelief.  Yes, it was comparable to looking directly at the sun.  That's Jaried Frogosa at the top left sporting the big 80's hair and the cutoff shirt to allow the ladies to see his guns.  You can't see it but I'm sure Jaried has a hairbrush in his rear pants pocket.  I'm on the right with my Ocean Pacific shirt, baggy pants and rad mullet.  Although my hairstyle says business in the front and party in the back, on that special evening, the hair balance of power was definitely on the party side.  There I am, arms extended and ready to sacrifice my body to protect one of my Dad's prized possessions - his big Sony stereo speakers.  I was prepared to get kicked in the head if it meant that Bill Shree's legs wouldn't come crashing down on Dad's speakers.  You would think that while wearing those parachute pants, Bill's legs would have a more controlled dismount, especially with the side zippers open to facilitate the aerodynamic characteristics of the pockets, helping to capture more air and control the deceleration velocity during the endgame of the headspin.  No such luck.

These two pictures belong in a time capsule.  Parachute pants, Members Only jacket, headspinning, hairstyles, fashion and teenage drama.  I wish the quality of the picture was better but what do you expect from a Kodak Disc camera.  Remember those beauties?  The photo even has my brother Beanie on the left with his Bruce Lee Kung Fu gear posing with his revenge fist.  Beanie has since changed his preference for martial arts.  He's very much into his Jujitsu now.  The teenage drama part - well, the girl up front is Jenny Chapman, one of my ex-girlfriends who started dating my good friend Ruben Soliman after we broke up.  Ruben is the guy sitting behind Jenny.  I should point out that Ruben's hair is both feathered and layered.  I didn't bat an eyelash at him dating my ex.  I just don't do grudges.  Still don't.  But now that I look back with more mature eyes, it might not have been the most comfortable evening for Jenny.  Maybe her expression in the picture says it all.  Ah, to be young again.

I just noticed my Mom's Lladro porcelain flowers on the lower left corner of the picture.  If Bill Shree had come crashing down on her Lladro, I would've been paying that off instead of saving up for my next Sergio Valente shirt.

I'm not sure what headspinning moment tonight's New Year's Eve party will bring.  But like many years ago, hanging out with good friends is always a good start.  That and making sure you don't break anything, from a headspin dismount or any other party action.  

Time to get ready for tonight's party.  Here's to 2011!

Mark

There have only been three times in the last year and a half where I wished I was back home in the US.  It doesn't happen often because I love living here in Busan.  Now is one of those times.  One of my best friends, Mark Barao, had a heart attack and stroke recently while traveling for work.  It's hard not being able to support Mark in person.  The good news is that Mark is getting better every day and is now back in Virginia Beach with his family after an arduous stay in Pennsylvania.  He has definitely come a long way from two weeks of uncertainty.  For those friends and acquaintances of Mark's that don't know about his situation, please take a look at the following Facebook page:

In Support of the Barao Family

Even if you don't know Mark, it's very uplifting to see the progress he's made and the tremendous support his family has received from friends and loved ones.  For many of Mark's friends, I'm sure this was a huge wake up call.  Mark's always been a strong, tough guy - a man's man.  I remember seeing a video from one of his karate black belt tests (third degree I think) where he's flying through the air breaking multiple wooden boards before his feet touch the ground.  If I was a girl, I would've given him my number.  Who am I kidding, I would've let him get to third base.  Heck, the only thing you need to know about Mark's virility is that he knows Chuck Norris.  Did you know global warming was created from the heat coming off of Chuck Norris' fists?

Well, rather than dwell on the somber side of this situation, I'd like to share with you a couple of things about Mark, and maybe even have a laugh while doing so.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Mark will be back to doing roundhouse kicks and playing golf in no time.  Those physical therapists better be careful to not get knocked down by Mark's motivation.  It's a powerful force.

Let me tell you about my friend.

Mark and I have been friends since we were teenagers.  We were classmates at Brandon Junior High, Princess Anne Junior High and Kellam High School in good old Virginia Beach.  Matter of fact, Mark was one of my first friends when my family moved from Norfolk to Virginia Beach.  We had a lot of things in common - we were the same age, we were both Filipino, our dads were both in the Navy, we were both into sports and most importantly, we both had awesome mullets.  Check out our coifs:

All business in the front...

...and all party in the back.  Mullet - best hairstyle ever.

I was compelled to include this picture of my brother Lee's mullet cause his mullet totally crushes mine and Mark's combined.  Oh yeah, Duran Duran called.  They want their bolo tie back.

One of my best memories from high school is zipping around in Mark's convertible MG with the top down.  It was a feisty little burgundy two-seater that was the coolest thing ever.  It wasn't until later that I found out that Mark and I were breaking Man Law #7 - Two straight men shall not ride in a convertible together with the top down.  Hey, we were still learning.  

Later on, Mark had the Camaro then the 300ZX.  But it was that MG that was the most fun.  That MG had the fastest windshield wipers known to man.  On multiple occasions, I offered to drive to school but I think Mark preferred to drive his MG instead of riding in my white 4-door 1972 (or whatever old fart year it was) Chevy Nova that used to be a Chesapeake city car.  I knew it was a city car because you could still see the faded letters from the stenciling that was on the doors of the cars.  Yeah, not the coolest car in the world but it ran and it only cost $500.  You know what was really cool?  Mark never joked me about my car.  He was a good friend.

Mark always had the nice toys.  Some of us had the pleather Michael Jackson jacket while Mark was sporting the real leather.  When we were zipping around on our bicycles, Mark had the cool red moped.  While some of the neighborhood kids, myself included, were taking a dip in the neighborhood lake, Mark was enjoying his new swimming pool.  And he was really kind with inviting the buds over to enjoy the pool with him.  We'd play our own made up games like "Astronaut, Astronaut Never Come Up."  That particular game was borderline hysterical fun and hospital emergency room visit.  We survived.  BTW, that lake I mentioned - it was kinda dirty.  I'm pretty sure those lake swims were the reason why I had to go to the doctor and have my ears cleared out that summer.  I'd bet good money that the muck in my ears was from that dang lake.  Feel free to take a quick break so you can gag.

Oh yeah.  Mark was named "Best Dressed" at Princess Anne Junior High School.  Little known fact.  Mark almost missed this photo shoot because he was too busy folding his pants up at the ankles and pinning them tight.   

Mark and I really got tight during wrestling season.  We were both cutting weight and pushing our bodies to their limits.  The blood, sweat and tears we shared during our wrestling years is one of the reasons why I know Mark is gonna recover just fine.  Coach Michaels - thanks for everything you taught us and put us through - grueling practices, frogs, lazy dogs, challenges, all of it.  Mark might be thinking of you during those physical therapy sessions.

Young bucks on the Kellam High School wrestling team.  I wrestled at 105 lbs and Mark was at 132 lbs.  Mark also played wide receiver for the football team.  Even though Mark didn't have a ton of experience wrestling, he was still beating guys with much more experience.  He was just a natural athlete.  I remember him beating a guy from Kempsville that was supposed to be the best in the region.  Yeah, he learned about Filipino power that day.

On to more embarrassing stuff - breakdancing.  There was the Fil-Am Rockers - the official breakdancing group.  Then there was the unofficial CRAM Crew.  CRAM - Chris, Rowell, Arnold and Mark.  Oh yeah.  We had routines and everything.  Shoot me now.

CRAM Crew plus two.  Clockwise from top left:  Mark, Bill Cassity (Bill Shree), Arnold Callanta, me, Ant Brown and Rowell Armenio.  This is near the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach.  We liked this spot because we could sneak over to the hotel pool and do crazy stuff off of their high dive.

I think this was taken with a disk camera.  Remember those?  They went away about the same time that our abdominal muscles went away.

Chilling with the boys at my house.  Even though this picture was taken from the second floor, you can still see the awesomeness of Mark's mullet.

Sexy!  You look good too Lani.  This is during Mark's midshipman days at Old Dominion University.  "Love lift us up where we belong..."  Side note:  Mark likes to bring up an old story where I was in a fight with a neighborhood guy and my nose started bleeding even before punches started flying.  I then like to bring up the story that I went out with Lani before him.

Hugging it out at my brother Alan's, ahem, first wedding.

Hanging out with our good friend Aileen.  Check out my IOU shirt.  IOU some money for not laughing at this picture.

Aileen, Mark and Lani.  Three of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your life.

There they are again, being nice.

At James Madison University visiting Lani and Aileen.

Mark professing his man-love to me.

Mark caught red handed two-timing on me.

One thing about Mark is that he can SLEEP.  Here he is knocked out at a party.

Here he is knocked out at another party.

Mark seeing me off at my farewell party before I departed for flight school in Pensacola, Florida.  This is also right before he knocked out asleep.  I don't think Mark knew how sad I was to be saying bye to him.

My oldest brother Alan, Mark, Aileen and Dave.  This is before Aileen and Dave got married and right before Carol and I tied the knot.

So a couple of years passed and I was the first of the group to get hitched.  This is right before I got married.  I'm really happy Carol said yes even though I had on a ridiculously large bow tie.  Mark gave me a hard time about not attending his wedding.  I had a good excuse.  I was deployed aboard the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT flying missions in the Adriatic Sea and Persian Gulf.  Cut me some slack man!  Wish I could've been there for you and Lani.

Catching up at my sister's place about 15 years ago.

We got to visit Mark and Lani in San Francisco while I was stationed in San Diego.  At least we were on the same coast for a while.  It was an awesome visit.  That's my flying buddy Al Francisco and his daughter Alyssa in the middle.  Here we are showing off the fruits of our loins.

No more crazy speeding in the Mustang from VMI to JMU or beating up drunk guys at Peabody's.  Settled down family guys.  That's us.

In August 2007, a bunch of the old Virginia Beach crowd had a mini-reunion at Princess Anne Park.  It was a great time.  Hadn't seen some of the old gang in over 15 years.  Me, Rick "The Man" Cosca, Mark, Arnold Callanta, Bill and Alan.

It was awesome seeing all of the kids too.

20 year high school reunion.

Pepito Arganza, Edgar Castillo, me, Gus Evangelista and Mark.  Better known as the OTW Club - Other Than White.

Well, thanks for taking this stroll down memory lane.  Lani and Mark, you guys are such an inspiring couple.  We'll continue to pray for you and the entire family.  Mark, I know there will be tough days ahead but nothing that you can't get through.  Stay strong and keep working hard.  God's strength is limitless.  You will get to the Mark of old.  My brother, I expect nothing less than TBD throughout your physical therapy - Total Barao Domination.  

Can't wait to see you in person.  I love you bro - Chris