After twenty years in the
Army, you get a few token things to remind you of the odyssey. The tie pin is
one of those things many toss in a drawer, if that, never to be seen again. I
guess because it's an odd thing, this retired Army tie pin. Still, it is a
reminder that you put in 20 years, or more, in uniform getting your boots dirty
around the world. It says you made it pass go and got to collect $200. But what do you do with it if you don’t wear
ties? Do retired women get one too? I think they should replace the tie pin with
a “Retired Army” coffee cup (one of the nick names, in the Army, for coffee was
‘lifer juice’ – alluding to those who were in for the long haul) or a “Retired
Army” shot glass, that way we ‘lifers’ could get better use out of the ‘gift’.
It's been 13 years since I was given this tie pin. It seems a lot longer than
that; it seems a lot farther away. Well, I'm on a different journey now. My
goal is to be a working artist. That is to say, I earn my living from being an
artist; you know, my ‘day job’ is being an artist. I hope I stressed ‘artist’
enough. The tie pin is a good reminder that this present goal is achievable too,
but it takes time. And it reminds me to have fun with the adventure as well,
like I did with my Army adventure (it wasn’t fun all of the time but there were
a lot of fun moments). And having things to remind me is good because sometimes
I forget to have fun every now and then – really.
