Day Five

Well, day four of sobriety has come and gone. I wish that I could say that it is easy. I guess that I should elaborate. On April 18th I had my second DUI in two years. Talk about a wake up call! The thing that was different about this one was that I don't really remember what happened at all. And the stupid thing was that I could have walked home, if I wasn't so drunk that I thought, 'What are the chances of getting pulled over, when I live less than a mile away?', pretty freakin' dumb!! I guess during the first DUI, I didn't think that I was that drunk, I remember everything, so in my mind I didn't think that I had a problem. I just thought that I got caught! Oh well, what are the odds of it happening again? Complete and utter denial. This second one scared the crap out of me. Not to mention I am still waiting to see what the consequences are going to be. I can just pray that the Army doesn't kick me out and that I can have the opportunity to seek help because I don't think I can do it on my own. In fact, I am going to go to my first AA meeting on Fri. This will probably be one of the most difficult things that I will ever do. I am a proud man, and for me to admit to myself that I have a drinking problem is probably the most significant thing that has ever happened to me. And regardless of the consequences as far as the Army is concerned, I think that when the cop pulled me over he inadvertently saved my life. Maybe not that night, I probably would have made it home with no problem, but some other night when I would have crawled back behind the wheel and possibly killed myself and taken someone else's life with me. Anyway, I guess I should get back to what I was talking about previously. So, after my Dad returned from Korea, we were off to Hawaii.
I remember having to take a military "Hop" to get there, probably to save a bit of money. We were loaded onto a C5 military transport plane, there were what seemed to my child's eyes, cargo up to the ceiling, and the seats consisted of cargo netting attached to the sides of the plane, with all the cargo piled in front of us. There were no windows, which to a 10 year old is a little freaky, and the men's bathroom, ( I can't speak of the women's, but I imagine that it wasn't much better) had funnels attached by strings to the ceiling, and hoses attached to the funnels that went wherever they went. And that was what we used for urinals. I have no idea, nor do I want to know what the toilets were like. So, other than the horrible bathrooms, the inedible box lunches that they handed out, and the fact that it was so loud you couldn't possibly sleep, not to mention that the cargo netting seats were so uncomfortable that you couldn't sleep even if you wanted to, the flight was great. I mean how could it not have been? I was going to Hawaii!!
We flew into Barber's Point Naval Station, on the south, or leeward, side of Oahu. This was where my father's Chinook squadron was stationed. My day's in Hawaii were a blur really, we were there for three year's. At first we lived on the base and I went to Barber's Point Elementary school, which was a great school. I will always remember my PE teacher, Mr. Yokohama, who always told me to 'Follow your shot', during basketball, because I would almost always miss. I remember going to the principle's office for the first time because I asked a kid in my class to stand back to back with me to see who was taller, and then I pulled his pants down in front of everybody. I remember losing my best friend, and his family to person that was driving while high on weed. How ironic. I haven't thought about him in years. But mostly I remember sitting in Mr Cox's class and watching the Challenger taking off, and then seeing it explode. This was especially significant to me and our community, because one of the astronauts, Ellison Onizuka, was related in some way to one of the teachers at my school.
Shortly after my sixth grade year my parents bought a house just off base. And I started to attend a private christian school, because my mom didn't want me going to public school. During this time we were attending a local church, but my father did not. And I think the fact that I went to a private christian school irked my Dad a little. It was during this time that I began to notice the cracks in my parent's marriage. Also during this time I started skateboarding alot and hanging out with some of the wrong kids in the neighborhood. This was when I started my first addiction. Cigarettes. In the 7th grade!!