In some of my threads, I may have briefly mentioned my wife...I owe her a lot as she brought me from the brink...after my tour I could not return to my parents as I had joined up to get away from my abusive and alcoholic father. Before that I was in an Asian gang in the San Francisco area...mainly to stay away from home.
The war changed me as it did many others. I became even more self-destructive, getting into fights at the drop of a hat and I'd often drop the hat. I did not carry a gun because I had enough of that overseas.
Eventually with a lot of moving around all over the western part of this country, I finally met my wife. Her innocent, childlike character was what I needed to help me see the joys and beauty of life and get away from the dark side.
I owe that woman a lot.
The trouble with her being so innocent, she also doesn't see some of the really bad and seamy side of life and she is a lot more trusting than I am.
Several times I have told her that it won't be her fault, but her innocent behavior will be what will get me killed one of these days...I really believe that.
Real story....
Last night we met at a restaurant after work and after dinner with my family we got in our separate cars to go home (five minutes away.)
I went to the main road...for some reason my wife without thinking went the back way through an alley, despite my warnings.
She ended up several blocks ahead of me and my daughter (13 years old) so we just tailed her. About ten blocks from our house, a red pick up with two guys in it pulled over to let my wife pass them. She went along and I noticed that they tailed her, too. Despite all the turns we had to take to get home, this little red pick up kept behind her. I picked up my cell phone but my wife turned hers off thinking we wouldn't need to communicate in such a short distance.
Somehow other cars got in my path and we hit the red lights and I got two blocks behind her and the little red truck.
I got a bad feeling in my gut and I told my daughter to get ready because even though I was hoping that she would notice the truck and practice our evasive driving, I had a feeling that she was going straight to the house.
I handed my daughter my always gun and I pulled out the HK 40 compact...I explained the maneuver to my daughter I was going to use and which zone she was to cover as we sped up.
Sure enough my wife turned into the drive way and the red truck did too. My wife's garage door opener had weak batteries that week and we hadn't gotten around to replacing them so of course Mr. Murphy was there and the garage door would not open, not that it would have mattered. She was dead in the water because she could not go anywhere.
I was half a block away when I saw both doors open on the truck...Dang it! wish I had gotten a bigger engine. As they walked towards her car...we pulled up at an angle on the street and both came partly out of the car so my daughter had hard cover from the rear passenger side...she pointed her weapon at the driver in the open, I had my weapon at high ready pointed towards the passenger who had his torso blocked by the truck compartment, but I had a head shot if I had to take it.
I yelled, "Let me see your hands...NOW!"
They both froze and slowly put up their hands. By their control, these guys had been there before....I had one at a time back up to my car and stop at about 8 feet away. I asked them why they were there and they both showed me Jehovah's Witness books.
I had my daughter call 911 on the cell and in two minutes, the cops were there and verified that these guys were the local guys who were trying to convert Chinese in the area to their religion. When they pulled over 4 minutes back to let my wife pass them, they saw my wife and figured she might be a good convert so they followed her car.
Being aggressive missionaries and a little uneducated in our American ways, they thought nothing of parking in our driveway.
The local LEO's know me from several other 911 calls and the fact that I worked with some of their cousins in my jurisdiction( I am not an LEO but I am assigned to work with them from time to time.)
The cops didn't mention the guns and warned the missionaries not to do that or someone could get hurt by accident.
Course, once we got in the house I asked my wife if she noticed the truck following her, she said she did but thought nothing of it. So she went straight home.
I ran down my thoughts in a controlled voice and as an after action report and had my daughter evaluate our reaction...she brought up a few points and then my wife laughed and said..."Do you think you made believers out of those two missionaries?"
I just stared at her in amazement as she went off to the TV room, as she totally shrugged off the entire incident.
I looked at my daughter, we shook our head and chuckled, "That's mom!"
Anybody else have a spouse like that, but their behavior keeps you balanced? Care to share?
The war changed me as it did many others. I became even more self-destructive, getting into fights at the drop of a hat and I'd often drop the hat. I did not carry a gun because I had enough of that overseas.
Eventually with a lot of moving around all over the western part of this country, I finally met my wife. Her innocent, childlike character was what I needed to help me see the joys and beauty of life and get away from the dark side.
I owe that woman a lot.
The trouble with her being so innocent, she also doesn't see some of the really bad and seamy side of life and she is a lot more trusting than I am.
Several times I have told her that it won't be her fault, but her innocent behavior will be what will get me killed one of these days...I really believe that.
Real story....
Last night we met at a restaurant after work and after dinner with my family we got in our separate cars to go home (five minutes away.)
I went to the main road...for some reason my wife without thinking went the back way through an alley, despite my warnings.
She ended up several blocks ahead of me and my daughter (13 years old) so we just tailed her. About ten blocks from our house, a red pick up with two guys in it pulled over to let my wife pass them. She went along and I noticed that they tailed her, too. Despite all the turns we had to take to get home, this little red pick up kept behind her. I picked up my cell phone but my wife turned hers off thinking we wouldn't need to communicate in such a short distance.
Somehow other cars got in my path and we hit the red lights and I got two blocks behind her and the little red truck.
I got a bad feeling in my gut and I told my daughter to get ready because even though I was hoping that she would notice the truck and practice our evasive driving, I had a feeling that she was going straight to the house.
I handed my daughter my always gun and I pulled out the HK 40 compact...I explained the maneuver to my daughter I was going to use and which zone she was to cover as we sped up.
Sure enough my wife turned into the drive way and the red truck did too. My wife's garage door opener had weak batteries that week and we hadn't gotten around to replacing them so of course Mr. Murphy was there and the garage door would not open, not that it would have mattered. She was dead in the water because she could not go anywhere.
I was half a block away when I saw both doors open on the truck...Dang it! wish I had gotten a bigger engine. As they walked towards her car...we pulled up at an angle on the street and both came partly out of the car so my daughter had hard cover from the rear passenger side...she pointed her weapon at the driver in the open, I had my weapon at high ready pointed towards the passenger who had his torso blocked by the truck compartment, but I had a head shot if I had to take it.
I yelled, "Let me see your hands...NOW!"
They both froze and slowly put up their hands. By their control, these guys had been there before....I had one at a time back up to my car and stop at about 8 feet away. I asked them why they were there and they both showed me Jehovah's Witness books.
I had my daughter call 911 on the cell and in two minutes, the cops were there and verified that these guys were the local guys who were trying to convert Chinese in the area to their religion. When they pulled over 4 minutes back to let my wife pass them, they saw my wife and figured she might be a good convert so they followed her car.
Being aggressive missionaries and a little uneducated in our American ways, they thought nothing of parking in our driveway.
The local LEO's know me from several other 911 calls and the fact that I worked with some of their cousins in my jurisdiction( I am not an LEO but I am assigned to work with them from time to time.)
The cops didn't mention the guns and warned the missionaries not to do that or someone could get hurt by accident.
Course, once we got in the house I asked my wife if she noticed the truck following her, she said she did but thought nothing of it. So she went straight home.
I ran down my thoughts in a controlled voice and as an after action report and had my daughter evaluate our reaction...she brought up a few points and then my wife laughed and said..."Do you think you made believers out of those two missionaries?"
I just stared at her in amazement as she went off to the TV room, as she totally shrugged off the entire incident.
I looked at my daughter, we shook our head and chuckled, "That's mom!"
Anybody else have a spouse like that, but their behavior keeps you balanced? Care to share?