Of Golden Hearts and Silver Wings

By Charity Tahmaseb

A couple of weeks ago, when a large contingent of my noodler sisters headed for Atlanta and the RWA National conference, I got all nostalgic. Not just for the one and only time I attended National (2003), but for the one and only time I’d ever been in Georgia--not Atlanta, mind you, but Fort Benning, Georgia.

So I started thinking. Would I rather run the gauntlet of +2,000 romance/women’s fiction authors, agents, and editors, of lit signings, of nerve-wracking editor and agent appointments and pitch sessions? Of wearing pantyhose at some point?

Formal gowns, pantyhose, up-dos, and Georgia humidity. They really don’t mix.

Or would I rather get up at four a.m. for physical training, have each and every sergeant airborne within a five-mile radius in my face, get dropped for pushups, get dropped from the swing landing trainer, and at the end of it all, get dropped from an airplane?

BDUs and humidity. Now that mixes.

Oddly enough, this reminiscing led to two solid weeks worth of blog posts. I’ve never tried to chronicle my military service like this before. I’d be reluctant to. In some cases, I don’t have a lot of closure around certain events, some things simply don’t have a happily ever after.

But Airborne School was different. It was an isolate three weeks of my service that in retrospect felt a bit like summer camp (inasmuch as summer camp involves jumping from airplanes).

If you’re curious, my entire series on Airborne School is on my blog. But I think I’ll just leave you with the happy ending.

That’s me, third from the left.

Silver wings and Golden Hearts--I’m honored to be associated with both.

posted by Charity Tahmaseb @ 9:21 AM