Today I end a very BIG chapter in my life. A chapter that has taken 22 years, 8 months and 13 days to write, which is over half my life. Its a chapter that has had its fair share of happiness, joy, and pride, but also some frustrations, pain, loneliness, fear, and some things Ive tried to forget. Today I hung up my uniform, put the hat on the shelf, and tossed the boots in the corner of the closet. Effective today, I retire from the U.S. Air Force! I couldnt have written this chapter without some awesome people providing me with a lot of support and love. Id like to take this opportunity to say thank you to some. Thank you to some awesome co-workers, Stephanie Spradley, Robert Schlubach, Nonica Ganesh, Ken Gammon, Joe Cotner, John Seeley, Alan Hamburg, Dave Colton, Laine Davis, Chad Buttars, Denise Bradshaw, Chuck DeNovellis and others. As Ive written before, there is no way I could have done this without my family. Thank you Aunt Susan Booth for always being willing to turn on the sowing machine and sow on my chevrons and patches. Thank you to my best friends Marlene Gray and David Goldman, both of you are the best and have shared in so much of this. Thank you to two of the most awesome and supportive people I know, my in-laws StevenandCindy Reeves. A big thank you to my brother Joe Ahlstrom your influence has made a huge difference in my life. My sister Janette Jackson, I wish I could find the words to express how grateful I am for all of your love and support. My mother Iris Ahlstrom, your example of never give up, give a good days work, and determination were examples that I tried to apply everyday. For the two that sacrificed and gave up so much, Emily Durka and Brennen Durka. The two of you have given up so much that I could go serve, and do my job. There are no words that I could say to express my gratitude for all of your strength, understanding, support, and courage! Other than to say thank you and I love you. For my rock, advisor, sounding board, very best friend, and co-captain on this one hell of a roller coaster ride that weve been over the past year, my wife Robin Ahlstrom. THANK YOU for listening, being my rock that I leaned on a lot, my advisor that gave me great advise, and my loving, supportive wife, I love you and thankful to have you in my life. Now on to retirement, growing out my mullet, maybe a rat tail, and finding a new job. :) What Im most proud of, being apart of less then 1% that could serve our great country, reaching a level that only 5% of those able to serve or .05% of the country could achieve. My only regret, is that I wont be able to wear the uniform again. Thank you, love you, deuces, Im out!
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 22:54:46 +0000
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