Derek and his girl at her senior prom

Derek is my older son.  It’s not easy to get photos of him, he is a bit camera shy.  He looks really sharp in a tux, but, unless there’s a big wedding, he’ll probably never wear one again!

He’s 22 now and is working for Magnetic Seal in Rhode Island.  They make parts for airplanes and helicopters (in particular, a magnetic seal for the rotors of military helicopters).  His job is called “Inspections” and is a sort of quality contol with an attitude. 

Derek is very bright, and it is hard to believe he quit high school.  Actually, he attended four years of high school, and then was told just before graduation that he did not have enough credits to graduate, and in fact, wasn’t even in the right classes to get the credits he needed! 

I blame that entirely on the school and the guidance department.  He had complained at the beginning of the year that he had not gotten the classes he had asked for and was told to “put in a slip” to see the guidance counseller.  He did not get an appointment.  He even tried to approach her in the hallway and was told he had to make an appointment.  When I finally got called in to speak with the principal because Derek was skipping the class he had been put in, I was told it was too far into the year to change his class then.

So, a wasted school year later they were telling me that Derek would have to go to summer school to get the credits.  Then they called me and said that they had reviewed his credits and found that some of them were not in classes he had needed, and he would have to come back in the fall for another semester.  He was, of course, not at all happy with that.  He told the principal he would just get a GED.  The principal pretty much said he did not think Derek was capable of passing the GED exams.  When the guidance counseller called me to say that she had discovered that Derek would actually have to attend TWO YEARS!!! of high school to get the proper credits, that was when Derek quit.  The principal gave me a speech about Derek being doomed to have a minimum wage job all his life.  I said that I was not worried, I know how smart my boys are.

Derek did go on to take the GED exams.  He did not study or take any classes to prepare for the exams.  Out of a possible score of 800, with a minimum of 410 being required on each section to pass, he scored a 700 in Language Arts - Reading, a 550 in Language Arts - Writing, a 710 in Mathematics, an 800 in Science, and a 700 in Social Studies.  An average score for all sections of 450 is also required to pass.  His average was 692.

The high school told me numerous times how much more difficult it is to pass the GED exams than it is to graduate from high school.  You have no idea how much self control it has taken for me to not march down to the high school and rub the transcript of Derek’s test results in their faces!

And, as to his working a minimum wage job all his life, he is working at a job that requires extreme precision, advanced computer and design skills, and a security clearance which had to come from Interpol.

I did ask Derek why he scored so “low” on his Writing portion of the tests.  He said “Ma!, they said to pick a character from a book or movie and tell how he influenced my life!”  Hmmm…..  I said, “Did you write about Winnie the Pooh?”  He perked, “Crap!, I didn’t think of him!”

Dana managed to get home for four days vacation around the fourth.  Finding flights took him a bit of maneuvering as he wasn’t notified that his leave was officially approved until the last minute and the majority of available flights did not fit his schedule.  Finally, he got the flights online.  One from Pensacola to Boston and another from Boston back to Pensacola.

I asked him if he wanted to do anything special when he got home and he said he wanted to sleep and eat steak.  So, I got a large pile of porterhouse steaks (fortunately, they were on sale) and stocked up on soda and iced tea.

Derek picked him up at the airport about noon on Thursday since I had to work, and they did a little brotherly bonding on the long drive home through stop-and-go traffic.  It seems like only yesterday I would have to pry them apart because they were trying to choke each other to death in the living room (ironic) or putting their fists through each other’s bedroom doors.  Sigh.  Finally, they seem to have gained some respect and even admiration for each other.  Who would have thought? 

I had not seen Dana since his leave after boot camp when he looked pretty thin and run-down.  He’s looking better now, healthier and stronger, and older.  He is going to school now but he still has to get up at the “crack of dark” to have PT before showering and changing for school.  He generally skips breakfast because he says there isn’t really enough time for the shower and change and then waiting in line for chow.  He doesn’t want to risk being late for school. 

So far, Dana is still learning how to talk to the planes, how to recognize different aircraft, and which ones get priority.  He is doing pretty well in school, apparently, as he said he was currently second in his class.  He did complain about all the paperwork though.  The Marines don’t let you get away with skipping your homework.  He can’t wait for the part of school when they will let him on the flight simulator.  His former roommate told him that if you crash a plane near the tower, there is a fuel truck parked there that will blow up too!  Cool!  He wants to try and get a plane to fly right into the tower to see what will happen.  I would think they’d frown on that stuff, but maybe it’s good that they see what a disaster it would be if they make a mistake like that.

A couple of steaks on the grille and about 14 hours of sleep, and Dana was off doing some more brotherly bonding with Derek.  Dana came back late Friday night sporting a new tattoo.  He has been wanting one for a long time and has been working on designs for it.  The Marines have rules about where you can put a tattoo and how much of it can show and what it can look like.  Derek took him to his friend Drew’s house for the tattoo.  Drew is just learning to do tattooing, but I guess he must be improving because Dana got his tattoo for free.  Drew PAID Derek $25 to let him put a tattoo on him!  Oh well.  At least it is a nice tattoo, a dragon on top of a globe.  Just the outlines for now.  Dana will get it colored in later on in Pensacola.

Dana also snuck (sneaked?) over to his dear grandmother’s house to try and rescue his Camaro.  No such luck.  Apparently his father has been “fixing” it some more and Dana couldn’t get it started.  He had wanted to bring it back home and leave it here.  I’m not sure why it makes a difference which yard it is parked in while he is in the service, but I guess it does.

A couple more steaks on the grille, a movie with his girlfriend, a cookout at his girlfriend’s parents (I believe they are seeing son-in-law material) and a little more bonding with his brother, and it was time to get back to work.  I drove Dana to Boston on Sunday and dropped him off at the terminal.  I asked him if it was worth the airfare to come home just for four days, and he said, “It was worth it, just so I could use the GOOD toilet paper!”