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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Flag Day

There are some things that get lost in translation between my husband and I due to distance and the fact that I am not a part of the FSI class so I just don't get it. Flag day was one of those things. He had explained the whole ceremony to me many times in his excitement to the day.
Flag day is when most people find where they will be posted for the next 2 years. Because my husband is medical, things work a little differently. We were going into the day knowing all posts were filled for the next year so we would be floating in D.C. until a post opened. My husband told me of the anticipation and excitement as a flag was held up and a name read. As people heard their names they learned of their post and either cheered, or went forward to receive their flag a bit subdued.
As he was describing all this to me over the phone, my mind saw a rather solemn ceremony where each officer received his post and was given a flag of that country which was folded into a triangle and would later be put into a special flag case, put on the mantle and looked upon for years to come with fond memories. Rather than being a solemn ceremony, this was a time to celebrate with your classmates. Bid lists had been poured over and anticipated. This was the climax of the anticipation and a time to rejoice. Plans could begin to be made, a future planned out.
So although it was rather anti-climatic for us as we still had to wait, I knew my husband had his flag in hand. Who knew that Washington D.C. even had their own flag? Later in the week when I arrived for the swearing-in ceremony he showed me his flag. It was a 4x6 flag on a stick. I leaned my head back and laughed at how I had taken all he had told me and built my own little picture in my head!

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