Nov. 11, 2010
The Life He Left Behind…
Today, we take the time to thank our Veterans across the world for their service to our great nation.
It is because of these brave men and women that fight for our freedom that we are able to enjoy our own personal freedoms in this great country.
Unless you have personally served in the military we can’t even begin to image what these brave souls endure both mentally, physically and emotionally while away from family and friends.
My best friend and brother, Robert, Rob to many of you, served 5 years in the United States Marine Corp where he reached the rank of Sergeant, earned the honors of Black Belt Martial Arts Instructor and Combat Conditioning Specialist in the Marine Corp Martial Arts Program (MCMAP).
The MCMAP Motto!
He ran the Body Composition Program on base, so we were doing the same things in the fitness world, just in two different parts of the world. During his time in the Marines he had become “The Poster Boy Marine.”
The Poster Boy!
The Marines was his home, so much so he was ready to reenlist, the brotherhood he had developed while away from myself, my sister, my mother and my father brought him to the realization that the Marines was where he belonged.
That is when he and I began to talk about what I was doing back home. We would talk about program design, our workouts, my bodybuilding, his training, but most of all we talked about the journey and business venture I was beginning and what I wanted it to become.
As few and far between those conversations may have been and at all times of the early morning (I mean ALL times), they led us to where he and I are today.
You see when Robert was in boot camp (the REAL deal, not FVFBC!) he would send letters home addressed just to me. There where things he just didn’t want my sister or mother to hear about, during his time at Parris Island, but don’t worry they found out later on upon his return!
Look we all know the military lifestyle is quite possibly the hardest to lifestyle to live. Many times our military personnel are thousands of miles away from friends and family in a foreign, sometimes hostile, country with no contact to the outside world and for Robert during his five years this was no different. He was stationed overseas and many times I didn’t even know what exact country he was in, what he was doing or where he was going. To say that bothered is outside the realm of this blog post and something I’ve never talked about. You see, my mother and sister looked to me to be the strong when while he was away. Not knowing where your brother or son is, for a period of weeks and months, can do horrible things to your mind.
This entire thought process and sense of worry, all changed over a year ago.
Robert was ready to reenlist. He happened to be in “tax free” waters and was going to accept an $81,000 signing bonus. Instead of banking this bonus he was going to send it home to me to invest in the business.
Now the world I live in $81,000 dollars is a small price tag to put on someone you love and respect tremendously.
I passed.
I told Robert that I wanted him to come home and join me in the business. Let the Marines have their $81,000 I wanted my brother home.
It sucks to put it this way but when I tell the story to someone I explain it as, I could have accepted the $81,000 and then sometime down the road never had my brother return from his service.
And I don’t have to spell it out for you to understand what I am saying there.
I wanted him home safe, doing something I KNEW he would grow to love.
I think we all should love a woman in a uniform!
And that he has. Don’t get me wrong coming home was the toughest decision of his young life. A decision I know he still thinks about daily and decision no amount of words can explain, but a decision that has helped change the course of my life for the better over the past year.
So I say to my bro, Robert, I’ll never truly understand the life you left behind and you know I’m never one to show my affection towards how much you mean to me.
But thank you man, thank you for your service, thank you for your time, thank you for your energy and thank you for your love.
Thank you for “always being faithful” to the ones who truly love you.
Semper Fidelis my friend.
Work Hard, Train Hard, Live Better,
Tyler
PS – The United States Marine Corp celebrated their 235th Birthday yesterday. Be sure to wish my bro a “Happy Birthday” over on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=558635081 and thank him for his service!
Comments
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Glad to have you back as well!!!
