Hard to define.

Deiss, my brother from the Corps. 

Thirteen weeks. Thirteen long weeks to be reborn, reshaped and re-purposed into something new. Thirteen weeks to break you down and recreate each of us as one. One team.

Every second was purposeful but impossible to see that from the inside. They taught us to shave, how to make a proper bed, methods to shine shoes and boots. Everything was by the numbers as if we never had those experiences before. No assumptions, we were all treated exactly the same.

This experience shapes you for the rest of your life. It somehow bonds you to people in ways that your blood relatives might not be able to fully understand.

The countless months that follow are equally bonding. Mashed together, it seems like you have been together for years. All walks of life, backgrounds rarely matter. The might have been the best part of the experience, no one really cared what your background was. Rich, poor, race, religion or education, no one cared. It wasn’t a rose garden but it wasn’t exactly like the outside world. It was a world that only can be seen from the inside.

I was fortunate to have Deiss come up to visit while I was on vacation. It is great to reconnect to my past life. Telling old stories felt like it was yesterday. Reconnect to something that forged me into who I am today.

It is hard to define what makes the connection strong, why we could pick up like it was just yesterday we were on ship or the pier. Not sure how it all works but I am so thankful for all of it. Thankful for Deiss.