At the Ball

What a full weekend we had! Saturday was Johnny's Battle Handoff Ceremony. He didn't tell people about it because he doesn't like to have a fuss over him. So, just the two of us went to his RSP unit. There were announcements about what was accomplished by him and the other three soldiers that were handing off. They invited me to the front to put his new rank on his uniform. His eyes were misty while I put his E2 rank in place; I didn't say anything because I would have started crying. It was a short, sweet ceremony that I'll always remember.
One of his good friends drove into the parking lot just as we were heading out to the car. So, we went and got a sandwich with him and John told some funny stories from his training. The friend mentioned that he no longer could attend the Military Ball that evening and that he wanted us to take his tickets. We had been playing with the idea of attending, but weren't sure that we could afford it. His kind gesture made it possible for us to go.
We met up with a group of friends and new people that became friends at a restaurant in Salt Lake City. I wore a pretty dress I had gotten before Christmas and never got to wear and John wore his Class A's (meaning: fancy army uniform with all the shiny buttons). We'd never been to a formal dance together in school or to any formal event during the whole of our marriage. We were soo excited! We split an entree and drank water for dinner and chatted and laughed with the other soldiers and their dates.
The Ball (I love saying it!) was held at the Capitol in Salt Lake City and we headed over there after dinner. It was beautiful! We danced together and went out for a breath of air with our group. Then we waited in line for pictures for two hours. I was filling out our paper that we would have one 5x7 picture for $7. But, one of our friends, who knows our employment situation well, asked if I was sure. I told him that it was fine, but he snatched the paper and treated us to a package of photos on him. Such a sweet gesture and such a good guy. We thanked him after we stopped looking stupid, and smiled huge for our couple and group photos.
By the time we got home, I was pretty sick because of my hypoglycemia, but Johnny took care of me and I went to sleep happy. He'd been telling me all night that I looked beautiful and, let me tell you, I was drunk from the sight of him in that uniform. It was a full day, but one of those days we'll always talk about and remember fondly.