Caren Krutsinger Poet Narrative

This is Not for Me

My daughter met a recruiter who was immensely powerful.
She flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to inquire further.
Called me and said “this is not for me, I’m not doing it.”
I said,”It’s okay. Don’t do it.”
“But the plane cost so much money!”
“We don’t care. Come home.”

The next day, she called to say “I am enlisting.”
I was incredulous. “What?”
“I cannot talk any longer,” she told me, “there is a line.”
I tried to get more details.
She said “Love you, Mom,” and hung up.
She had met another powerful recruiter.

She was twenty-one at the time, during the Gulf War.
I was terrified for her.
Hoping she would not be sent to the front.
It was horrifying to me.
She said basic training was awful, but she got through it.
We did not get to see her in person until after the parade.
Because she is tall, she was carrying a flag.

The Air Force was the best thing that ever happened to her.
They trained her for a great job; she is an epidemiologist.
She has had a marvelous career thanks to the Air Force.
She never had this kind of direction before.
On one of her bases, she was named “Captain of the Year”.
We are very proud of her.

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