Losing the Butter Bars

Stephen has now gone from a 2nd Lieutenant to a 1st Lieutenant. It’s not a very big promotion but it is a move past being “the newbie”. He is no longer the lowest ranking officer in the Army. His on paper promotion happened in the end of November but they didn’t get around to the ceremony until January. This is how Stephen fills me in on his life, “oh yeah, I have my promotion ceremony tomorrow, but I don’t know where or what time.” Yeah, thanks for the notice. So I take time off work to do the ceremony and I am very nervous because I have no idea what to expect or what I am supposed to do.

It’s the day of the ceremony and I get all primped and pretty and it’s getting later and later in the afternoon and Stephen still hasn’t told me where and when it is. So at 2:30 he texts me to say it’s at 3:00 but he doesn’t know where yet. So I frantically finish getting ready and I am driving to post, running late, and I still don’t know where its going to be or what I am supposed to do. Stephen of course isn’t answering his phone. Finally I am about to drive on post when he lets me know its going to be outside of his office building. I show up 5 minutes late. Everyone (by everyone I mean the whole company, including Stephen’s Colonel) is waiting on me. One of the other officers quickly tells me what to do and everyone gets into formation and the ceremony starts. Stephen and another Lieutenant are call up in front of the formation then I am called up and I switch out Stephen’s old patches for his new ones. Then I go back and stand near the other soldiers while Stephen gives a thank you speech that includes thanking me for putting up with him (and yes those were his exact words). This is of course the time that my allergies kick up and my eyes start watering. And when I say watering, I mean tears running down my face! So everyone else thinks I am crying! I felt so silly! Anyways, in about fifteen minutes it was all over and Stephen had to go back to work. The End.