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As a vendor, I’ve had cadets and parents come up to me and ask me, “Why should I buy a saber and a case?”  I try to convince them of the importance of it, but usually I don’t have much time.  I decided it might be easier to put it in a blog post.

Remember David Letterman’s Top Ten on the David Letterman Show?  In honor of those students and parents sitting on the fence about whether they should take the plunge and buy a saber and case, I present to you…

R & R’s Top Ten Reasons to Buy a Saber and a Case

10. If need be, could be used as a weapon.  (it’s not super sharp, but you could jab or whack a robber pretty good in an emergency…if you don’t have the glass cover on the case).

9. Pretty cool stuff for the “I Love Me” wall, or parents’ “Whew, I’m Glad They Made It, and I Love Them” wall

8. The education was free, and extremely hard, too, so you deserve to splurge and treat yourself

7. A saber AND a case together will cost less than the class ring!

6. For posterity.  We once had a customer who DID get the saber and case, but for his engraving was only going to have the class crest and school name.  I convinced him to put his name on the plate so that future generations could look at it with awe and exclaim, “Wow!  Great Uncle So and So went to a prestigious military academy (you fill in the name)!”

5. Awesome gift for a sponsor, AMT, AOC or other significant person in your life who helped you make it through.  Some cadets will get together and purchase a sword and case for a sponsor or AMT.

4. Peer Pressure.  Many alumni before you have already bought them!  Some of them at least bought the saber while still a cadet (cheaper that way), and the case later.  We’ve had guys from ’59 and ’65, for example, who tell us that they should have done it years ago; it looks so beautiful hanging on the wall.

3. Be proud of what you did, and inspire others.  Not too many people can have a sword and case on their wall.  It is a symbol of your hard work and sacrifice.  Some cadets have told me, “But I wasn’t in the honor guard or I didn’t use a saber while at the academy.”  Doesn’t matter.  It’s a symbol of your time at a military academy.

2. You never know when you will need it…for a wedding or other official ceremony.  Just ask Shawn Schulz, USAFA Class of ’06.  See his testimonial on our Testimonial page.  “Because Every Grad Should Have One” is what he put on his engraving.  We agree!

1. It’s a piece of history and a family heirloom.  And your family will love it!  (don’t wait, prices will be going up soon)

B.E.P.

Happy New Year!  Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet?  Or broken them yet?  😉  Read on for an idea to stay on track with what you want to do this year…

Alright, you might be wondering, what does B.E.P. stand for?  Is this some military acronym?  No, being a retired military member’s wife, I like acronyms, so I came up with my own.  For myself.  B – Big, E – Everything, P – Plan.  I’m not a born organizer or neat person, like other people I know.  It has always been a struggle to keep up with everything.  With each child, however, I have become more organized (you have to, for survival!).

So this is my newest attempt to organize myself.  I got a 17” x 11” size paper, and made a large graphic listing all the big areas in my life:  Home, School (we homeschool), R & R Business, Farm, etc.  Underneath each listing, I wrote some of the things I need to do.  Then I used an 8 ½ x 11” paper and listed each main area.  Then I laminated it.  I plan to try to work on each area every day, and mark it off or put a check mark by each area I do.

I am very OCD, and I will start working on one area, and hyper-focus on it.  Then, at the end of the day, I see that many other areas were neglected.  Before long, I am super behind in one or more areas.

I’m hoping to discipline myself to at least work a little on each area each day.  That way I can see progress each day.  If I notice that one area is consistently being neglected, I can make plans to do that one first the next day.

I think this might be helpful for others like me, whether you are a parent or a student.

How about you?  Are you a born organizer?  Or do you struggle like me?  I’d love to hear your tips or ideas on getting or staying organized.  Looking forward to your brilliant responses!

Like surprises?  I do!  Don’t know if my pilot boyfriend (now hubby) knew that or not, but guess he likes surprises, too.

He was in San Antonio for about three months for PIT (Pilot Instructor Training), then sadly had to go back to Enid, Oklahoma to Vance AFB, where he was a FAIP (First Assignment Instructor Pilot).  How scary to think that right after Pilot Training, some of the students who just got their wings come back as instructors!  But that’s how it was done.

Since it was before the days of texting and FaceTime, we actually…wrote letters!  We grew to know each other very well this way.  I still have a shoebox full of mushy-gushy letters (that is off-limits upon penalty of death to our children).

Guess Rich didn’t like that I only wrote one letter to his ten (I think he wrote me just about every day!  He wasn’t smitten, was he?), so about once a month, he would fly down and see me, unannounced.

As an instructor pilot, he would take his students on a cross-country trip to test their skills.  The students got to choose where they would fly on their weekend trip.  Word quickly got around that if you wanted a good grade from Lt. MacKeen, choose San Antonio as one of your overnights, since he has a girlfriend there!  The student would usually choose their hometown for one night, and San Antonio for the other.

He would show up on the Riverwalk, or at a wedding I was attending at my church.  It was pretty funny…and pretty cool, too.  So we got to spend more time together and get to know each other better.

Thank Heaven for kind students who wanted a good grade!

Moral of the story?  Communicate!  If you are the parent of a cadet or military member, keep in touch.  In person is best, but that is not always possible.  Emails and social media are great, but nothing beats an old-fashioned pen and paper letter to let people know you really care.  And be patient with your child if they don’t reciprocate as much as you’d like.  They are busy; they are young.

And if you are the cadet or military member?  Make some time to communicate with those who love you!  Yes, I know that it is more fun to text or Snap Chat your boyfriend/girlfriend, but Moms and Dads need to know you love them, too, and that you are alive!!! And yes, even those pesky siblings.  You may not have time to write letters, but try to at least every once in awhile.  When our son and daughter were four degrees (freshmen), they actually wrote long letters while in basic training (guess they really missed home)!  Once school started, not so much.  But it is possible if you schedule it.

Sadly, once our kids made it through basic, I was not (am not) as faithful at writing as before.  I need to fix that.

Now I need to find a piece of paper, a pen, an envelope, and a stamp…I’ll talk more about getting organized in my next post…

I met my husband, Rich, in San Antonio, Texas.  He was at Randolph AFB for P.I.T. (Pilot Instructor Training). We did not meet at the Auger Inn at the base (as some future spouses did), but at church.

He came into the young adult Sunday School class with a friend of his, also going through P.I.T.  I noticed him and thought he was cute.  Our class had decided to meet to play putt-putt golf.  Rich shared with me later that he HATES golf (it’s too slow for him and he’s not that good at it), but thought it would be a good way to meet people.

He saw me, thought I was cute, and worked to get in my group as we were splitting into groups of 3 or 4.  He cracked corny jokes the whole time, and I laughed, so he decided then that I was a keeper!

We started going out.  Our first date was to see the movie “Princess Bride” in the theater.  He had some friends, another pilot and his wife (Mike and Monica) that he would regularly get together for a meal with.  So naturally he brought me along.

I sat at the table, enjoying a home-cooked meal, as military acronyms flew across the table like popcorn in a popper!  I smiled politely, but had no idea what they were talking about.  I eventually learned many acronyms, but confess that even now I don’t know them all.

When your child or loved one comes home from school or work for a visit, he or she might also use acronyms when he talks about his experiences.  Fortunately, there are many resources available for those new to the military to understand the lingo (see list below).

Also, don’t be shy like me, just use your parental prerogative and ask your child.  They will most likely be happy to tell you, knowing that they have one up on you!

http://www.militaryspouseprogram.com/military-spouse-lingo-ultimate-guide-new-military-spouses/

http://marriedtothearmy.com/army-acronyms-and-abbreviations/

http://www.operationwearehere.com/Parents.html

http://www.operationwearehere.com/MilitaryLifeDeploymentReintegrationBooks.html

(Wow!  Wish I had read some of these when we were starting out in the military!)

Mary with her dad in 1987.

Myron with two bucks

A good season

Myron Moritz was born December 11, 1928, in Fredericksburg, Texas.  He was one of seven children born to Bob and Vera Moritz.  They hunted deer for food, and would process the meat with Myron’s father and grandfather every year.  At age five or six, he began hunting with the family.

While hunting was a means for procuring food, it also became one of my dad’s favorite pastimes.  In fact, he told the draft board that he couldn’t leave in October because that was deer and elk season in Colorado!  So he left in January because all of the hunting seasons in Texas and Colorado were over!

Myron served in the army during the reconstruction of Germany as a cook.  Being from Fredericksburg, a German settlement in Texas, he knew the German language.  But the Germans he worked with did not know that!  This made for some interesting and funny stories!  Particularly one that ended with everyone in a bar buying him drinks!

He helped his mom and dad build a two-story building, on the outskirts of Fredericksburg, that housed a diner on the main floor, and his parents’ living quarters upstairs.  They called it Country Diner.  He worked as a cook there for about six months, then worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traveling and inspecting problem insect infestations such as boll weevils.  After awhile he went back home and bought the diner with a friend of his.  He said he would run it until he could find someone to buy his share.  Evenually his friend’s brother came back from serving in Germany, so he bought my dad’s share.  Then he worked construction with a friend and his brother-in-law.

While working construction, he often traveled to San Antonio to work.  During his lunch break, he and his brothers and brother-in-law would often eat at Butcher Boys, where Mary’s mom was a waitress.  She claims it was a great place to eat, and one of the more popular dishes was a $1 t-bone steak, with all the fixings!  Can you imagine?!  The guys would often joke with my mom, Jean, and ask her what such a nice girl was doing there.  She answered, “Looking for a husband, but none of you fit the bill!”

One day the guys came in, but Myron was not with them.  He thought he had told Jean that he was going to be hunting in Colorado, but he must not have, for she quipped, “Oh, you lost your compadre?”

One of them responded, “Yeah, he got married last weekend.”

The next week she had to work late, and Myron came in by himself.  He was the only customer in there!  They talked a little, then she went about her work.  Finally he said to her, “Could I ask you something?”  She thought he wanted something else to eat.  “How about you go out with me?”

“Are you kidding?!”  she blurted out, thinking maybe he had had a fight with his new wife.  Of course, his brothers had been joking.  And this started Mary’s parents’ relationship.  They were later married on April 1, 1960 (no kidding!).  I like to tease them and say,”Will you marry me?  April Fool’s!”  Together they raised their three children, Jay, Robert Michael, and Mary.

My dad went on to own his own construction company, MCM Custom Homes, and my brother Jay worked with him.  They built half a million dollar homes (1980’s prices).  He did that for 27 years.  At age 60 he began inspecting homes for SACU (San Antonio Credit Union) and did that for 16 years.

About 30 years ago, my dad started writing down his experiences of hunting with his friends and family, filling up two yellow legal pads, front and back!  More to come on this…

He turned 89 today!  He is an amazing, hard-working man.  I truly admire him; his service to his country (and others like him) have made our country what it is.  His responsibility and work ethic have helped shaped me and made me who I am.  I love my dad and am very proud of him.  Happy Birthday, Dad!