Excerpt from, "Reaching God's Perfection...Stories of Gratefulness"

One night as the sun was going down, Trooper McDonald entered the all female barracks where we were staying.

She walked in and as usual had her hands clasped behind her back and said, “Okay, anyone want to go for a run on base tonight with Trooper Larsen?” The room went quiet. Each girl looked at each other, well except for me.

I looked at Trooper McDonald, and said, “Yes Ma’am! Me, Ma’am! I want to run with Trooper Larsen on base tonight. Can I?”

She responded, “Yes. Anybody else?” Some girls gasped and others giggled. Then Trooper McDonald, “Okay, come with me.” I followed behind her, all jittery, excited. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

Soon enough we were seeing Trooper Larsen, the sun was going down. Trooper Larsen was a tall, perfectly built man, with dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. In other words, he was quite the specimen of a man. Funny back then I had no interest in dissecting good-looking people.

If I was on a mission to learn or to get something done. I might notice that the person had some aesthetic appeal, but I often compartmentalize and maintain the order of the day. Staying focused on whatever it was I was accomplishing.

As we waited for any other takers., no one else showed up but me. It was just Trooper Larsen and myself as we began to run around base. He asked, “You have any questions?” Music to my ears. I wanted to learned everything I had to do to become a New Jersey Trooper.

The questions poured out as we ran. Trooper Larsen answered every single one of them. From Discipline to Education to the Military

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