En-Uk Grows Up

En-Uk went to ROK bootcamp six weeks ago. He 'graduated' yesterday, and we saw him again after those six fleeting weeks. A band played military music. Kant would have liked that touch. At the end, the soldiers threw their berets high into the air and caught somebody else's beret coming down. One size fits all, I guess. My little boy is now a soldier and will be for about a year. I was intending my first words to him to be a joke warning not to start a war, but I choked up and nearly burst into tears, and only with great force of will did I overcome my emotions.

When I was finally able to speak again, I said, "That was odd. Anybody want to go out for some corn chips and sour cream dip?"

We then went downtown to do just that, or so I intended . . .