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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Cadet - 23. Epilogue

The cadets would never see those hats again. Why bother retrieving them when they were not be part of any uniform they would wear in the Air Force? Pandemonium ensued. While graduates hugged and sought out friends and family, a mass of children swarmed the field to collect the discarded caps.

“Look, Uncle Ritch. I got one.” Liebe proudly held her prize out for her uncle.

“That’s awesome, munchkin. Did you go out there by yourself?”

“Nah, mate.” Owen held the delighted girl in his arms. “An older kid went out with her and Joel’s nephew, and CJ walked behind them to make sure they didn’t get trampled.”

Ritch held his hand out, and Liebe handed him the lid. “There should be a present for you in here.” He retrieved a small, plastic bag from inside the headband. “You get to keep the money too.” In addition to the cool souvenir, most kids would find a little surprise tucked in it: $20.24, to commemorate the Class of 2024.

 

“We’ll see you in a couple of days?” Brett’s hand on Ritch’s shoulder redirected the graduate’s attention to him and César. The morning after celebrating the new second lieutenant’s achievement, the family gathered to say goodbye. Once they dropped Olga, Rosario, and Sebastián at the airport, Brett and César would drive to Vail.

“You guys still gonna be there?” Ritch knew his parents had interviews scheduled with a couple of contractors, trying to select one to do work at Falcon’s Lair.

Over fifty years old, the Vail house was due for upgrades. At Owen’s urging, a better insulated metal roof would replace the aging one, and new, energy efficient glass would be installed in all windows. A modern furnace and backup generator were also planned updates.

“We’ll probably spend the whole week. Our first meetings are on Monday.” César finished loading his parent’s luggage in Heinrich and closed the rear hatch.

“Kiss Uncle Ritch goodbye.” Owen held one of the twins after already having strapped Liebe in the back seat of the rental car.

CJ had the other boy in his arms. “I’m jealous of you, bro. I can’t believe you and Lucy get to visit before I do.” While Owen returned to Washington with the three kids, CJ was headed to Malibu as one of the President’s campaign representatives at a fundraising event.

Ritch and Lucy were driving to Durango. Located in the south of the state, adjacent to the Southern Ute Reservation, the former mining town was popular with tourists. The day after, they planned to visit the Four Corners Monument where the borders of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah came together. They would be in Vail after another night on the road.

“We’ll take pictures there and with Portia. Look for them online.” Once the mini-vacation was over, Lucy would fly to D.C. with Ritch, and return to Boston after a few days with her family.

“Portia?” Brett stared at Ritch while shaking his head. “You’ve gotten worse than CJ at naming cars.”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” Ritch, with an arm around her waist, pulled his girlfriend in for a kiss. “That was all Lucy’s doing.”

Once the goodbyes were over, the young couple climbed aboard the newly christened Porsche, and Ritch grinned when the engine roared to life. He slipped the dark blue, kidskin driving gloves CJ and Owen had given him as a graduation present and nearly moaned. The supple material caressed each finger. “Thanks for coming everyone. See you all soon.” Ritch put the car in gear and stepped on the gas.

With the top down, Lucy looked back, lifted her oversized sunglasses, and smiled. The white silk scarf wrapped around her hair fluttered in the wind. She waved at the men everyone now realized would one day be her in-laws.

Ritch was beyond happy. In thirty days he would report for duty. Until then, he planned to live on the fly.

 

The End

Although I've said it before, I'd like to reiterate my gratitude to Mann, Wolf, and Parker. Their contributions made this story significantly better.
And to you, my readers, I can't say thank you enough. Each Friday the highlight of my day wasn't posting a new chapter but enjoying your reactions and comments. However, I'm greedy. If you could spend a few more minutes online for me, please react, recommend, comment, and or review the story as a whole. @Myr has helpfully placed a button at the end of this chapter that will take you to the main page.
I'll be back, hopefully this fall, with CDMX.
Copyright © 2021 Carlos Hazday; All Rights Reserved.
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My thanks to Mann Ramblings, Parker Owens, and WolfM for their assistance. The story is better that it would have been without their assistance.
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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  • Popular Comment
pvtguy
  • Popular Comment

Great wrap-up.  I can't say anything more profound than what's already been said in the other comments, but I will say that I do so admire your story-telling ability.  It is so rich with seriousness, humor, insight, strong characters, and values which allow us all to reflect on our own.  Thank you over and over!  I will be most happy to see the next posting whenever that is!

Tony

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Carlos Hazday
21 minutes ago, pvtguy said:

Great wrap-up.  I can't say anything more profound than what's already been said in the other comments, but I will say that I do so admire your story-telling ability.  It is so rich with seriousness, humor, insight, strong characters, and values which allow us all to reflect on our own.  Thank you over and over!  I will be most happy to see the next posting whenever that is!

Tony

Thanks, Tony. Although I address varied, important issues, I try not to take myself to seriously. And I try to infuse each story with humor when appropriate. Life's too damn short not to laugh.

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Carlos Hazday
6 minutes ago, James B. said:

Looking forward to the next book in Ritch's life. Hopefully a wedding as well, where he's stationed and possibly Children. Great job as usual Carlos. Thank-You

No more stand alone books featuring Ritch, but he'll be an integral part of future CJ and Owen stories. A wedding will have to wait. I don't think it's realistic for educated kids these days to marry as young as CJ did. Most want to establish themselves in their careers before settling down. I foresee lots of traveling by him and Lucy whenever he gets leave.

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JayA
  • Popular Comment

Looking for my corner to hide in and cry until you start posting again.....

Excellent ending to an outstanding story -- will say I was hoping to at least see the proposal before they drove off in the sunset....

As others have said, I will miss my weekly fix but know that more is coming -- will do my best to be ....ahh hell, you know I don't want to wait   🙂

Thank you for providing the time with Rich as I (and others) asked for.  He grew up to be a great man with much, much more anticipated in the future.

Thanks again for keeping us updated with the entire family......until we chat again....

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frosenblum

Ditto to what everyone has said.

The quality of your writing is superb. I love the CJ universe stories and that everyone in the family is good-hearted and socially conscious.

However, I'm time and again put off by their wealth. My life experience is so different from theirs that my mind is boggled -- and a slew of negative judgements about the 1% spring up -- around things like Ritch getting a $200,000 car as a college graduation present.

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Carlos Hazday
2 hours ago, JayA said:

Looking for my corner to hide in and cry until you start posting again.....

Excellent ending to an outstanding story -- will say I was hoping to at least see the proposal before they drove off in the sunset....

As others have said, I will miss my weekly fix but know that more is coming -- will do my best to be ....ahh hell, you know I don't want to wait   🙂

Thank you for providing the time with Rich as I (and others) asked for.  He grew up to be a great man with much, much more anticipated in the future.

Thanks again for keeping us updated with the entire family......until we chat again....

Do you remember how long it took for CJ and Owen to get engaged. By now y'all should be used to me not rushing that kind of development. He;;, I remember how surprised some readers were when I posted that proposal. All in due time.

Hang in there, mate. The clan will return soon enough.

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Carlos Hazday
45 minutes ago, frosenblum said:

Ditto to what everyone has said.

The quality of your writing is superb. I love the CJ universe stories and that everyone in the family is good-hearted and socially conscious.

However, I'm time and again put off by their wealth. My life experience is so different from theirs that my mind is boggled -- and a slew of negative judgements about the 1% spring up -- around things like Ritch getting a $200,000 car as a college graduation present.

I think CJ's acknowledged his privilege and being part of the 1% before. I don't begrudge them their wealth, whatever was inherited was mostly in trust for future generations or the foundation, and I've mentioned Cesar's capable handling of finances. Being the son of immigrants who had nothing when they arrived in the US and survived with the help of family, friends, and hard work, I'm a huge believer in capitalism. As an accountant, I dealt with rich people on a regular basis. Some were more inclined than others to share their wealth. I've shown the fathers and CJ using their resources to help others and in this book tried to have Ritch follow their example.

Now, you want to talk money... Because I'm using a sailing yacht as the setting for a future story, I've been tracking developments in the industry. Jeff Bezos commissioned a sailing mega yacht for 500 million. Because the masts interfere with landing a helicopter on board, he's also having a second "smaller" boat built. It has a landing pad (his girlfriend's a helicopter pilot) and will carry trinkets like cars and motorcycles. Jeff gets mentioned in the next book.

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Carlos Hazday
2 hours ago, dughlas said:

You have to know it was ... tooo short.

LMAO

Fine, here's a bit more...

Spoiler

The cocktail party—in what CJ already suspected might be an endless string of such events—meant an evening rubbing elbows with Mexico City’s elite and away from Liebe. At least they knew their toddler was safe at home with a trusted caretaker. The sitter and the full-time nanny they had hired were both lucky finds. The latter they could not thank Felicia Barrosa sufficiently for discovering.

A reporter for one of Mexico’s television networks, Felicia had been in the United States in 2016 to cover the presidential election. She had interviewed CJ half-a-dozen times in his capacity as a surrogate for Hilary Clinton and a friendship developed.

 

  • Like 3
frosenblum
5 minutes ago, Carlos Hazday said:

I think CJ's acknowledged his privilege and being part of the 1% before. I don't begrudge them their wealth, whatever was inherited was mostly in trust for future generations or the foundation, and I've mentioned Cesar's capable handling of finances. Being the son of immigrants who had nothing when they arrived in the US and survived with the help of family, friends, and hard work, I'm a huge believer in capitalism. As an accountant, I dealt with rich people on a regular basis. Some were more inclined than others to share their wealth. I've shown the fathers and CJ using their resources to help others and in this book tried to have Ritch follow their example.

Now, you want to talk money... Because I'm using a sailing yacht as the setting for a future story, I've been tracking developments in the industry. Jeff Bezos commissioned a sailing mega yacht for 500 million. Because the masts interfere with landing a helicopter on board, he's also having a second "smaller" boat built. It has a landing pad (his girlfriend's a helicopter pilot) and will carry trinkets like cars and motorcycles. Jeff gets mentioned in the next book.

My mind's beyond boggled. You just exploded it.🤑

  • Haha 3
JayA
2 hours ago, Carlos Hazday said:

Do you remember how long it took for CJ and Owen to get engaged. By now y'all should be used to me not rushing that kind of development. He;;, I remember how surprised some readers were when I posted that proposal. All in due time.

Hang in there, mate. The clan will return soon enough.

Yes I remember and drove myself nuts waiting it....LOL

  • Haha 3
  • Popular Comment
Bill Christiansen
  • Popular Comment

Every time we have come to this point, I am sad, because it means that another part of my weekly routine ends. Your writing has been part of my life for a few years now, lol. I was so excited this morning when I saw the posting was up, and had the chapter waiting me when I came home from having my cataract removed and my vision healthy. As so many times in this family saga, tears of sadness and joy and a good laugh, and enjoyment filled my time as I read. Thanks for sharing, please, please keep writing.

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