No Guns in This House!

Maxx has told all his Texas friends that he's an only child, however, he is the youngest (but largest) of 3 between Garry and I. His friends back east know his oldest sister, Jessi; and his step-sister, Heather; who joined our family when Garry and I married in August of 2002. What many people may not know is that I was totally opposed to guns in our household when the children were little...even toy guns! I never had a brother and my 1st child was a girl, so I had no idea that boys are hard-wired for destruction and mayhem. Maxx seems to have come into this world with a propensity toward weaponry and all things military, which this former pacifist mom had trouble keeping contained. At about 2-years-old, Maxx became creative enough to make his own weapons of mass destruction. He'd take a stuffed toy dog, hold one front leg and one back leg and point it at his sister, making the sound of a machine gun. There was not a tree branch, wooden spoon, or Lego that didn't become a gun of some kind.

I finally realized I was losing this battle at the end of 2nd grade. At the end of every school year, the children were allowed to pick out any book they wanted from the bookstore to add to their treasured personal libraries. Maxx chose "The Battle for Korea." The next year he chose "The Shipwrecks of Guadalcanal." And so it went. I finally gave in, I think, somewhere in the 4th grade. Much to Jessi's chagrin, we began buying Maxx Nerf weapons thinking that perhaps we'd tame the destruction. He became adept at stealth and could get his sister point-blank every time! Jessi hid many a Nerf dart that we'd find months later behind a dresser or in the very back of a closet.

Maxx continued to grow taller and taller and, at 10-years-old was about 5' tall. By 12, he began talking about wanting to become a Navy Seal. I work for Southwest Airlines, which is my extended family, so I contacted a friend in the Norfolk Station who's boyfriend (now husband) worked at the Naval Base there. He agreed to meet us at the airport and take us to the Naval Base for a tour. When Dewey picked us up, he and Maxx began talking non-stop about all things Navy. When we arrived on base, Maxx would point out aircraft, vehicles, and weapons and tell Dewey what they were. I'd whisper to Dewey, "Is that right?" He'd say, "Yes, it is ma'am!" I was bursting with pride. We were able to go on a Russian submarine and on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, where we witnessed the bell-clanging, snap-to saluting arrival of the Captain. Maxx was in heaven! The best part of our tour was when Dewey brought us to meet Navy Seal Team 10. We walked up to the open tent where they were resting. They looked so ominous sitting there with their camos and dark glasses on, casually cleaning their weapons. I stayed back to let Maxx bask in the moment. The commander of the team came up to Maxx and began talking. He asked why Maxx was there and they talked for a while. The commander of Navy Seal Team 10 then turned to me and said, "You have a very intelligent son here, ma'am!" I squeaked out, "Thank you" and was glad I had sunglasses on to hide the tears welling up in my eyes. I'd shed tears of sadness many years later when Maxx and I found out that all of these men, save one, were killed in an ambush in Afghanistan in June 2005. You can read the eyewitness account of Marcus Luttrell in his book "Lone Survivor."

In 7th grade, Maxx decided to play football for the purpose of getting in shape for the military. By that time, Maxx had begun getting to know Garry's dad, Garry senior, a bit better. Garry was a sharpshooter and a Sargeant in the Marines; a Korean War Veteran. He would have stayed a Lifer had it not been for a car accident in Korea that left him with a broken back. The Marines offered him a desk job or an Honorable Discharge. His heart was with his men back in the field, so it was with great sadness that Garry took the Honorable Discharge. I think he carried this sadness with him the rest of his life. We buried him in a Marine Corps casket in June of 2005 with a military burial and a full 21-gun salute. He would have loved it.