Entry 003 – Date: 07.03.3206 – Location: Sol Naval Academy

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day. I spent most of the day with mom. We hadn’t found the time for that for a long while.

Over the last few years, I had always been too busy too completely relax.

First there was the goal to finish school well enough to get into the Academy. Then the Academy itself. Studying there was far from easy. Oftentimes the time allocated for rest and recreation was spent studying or preparing for the upcoming material. Otherwise, I would have fallen behind.

I saw it happen a couple of times. The 2000 students that finished in our class might seem a lot to some. However, we started with a class with more than twice that number. Inability to keep up counted for most of the attrition.

Of course, I didn’t spend all the time hidden behind a computer. There were parties, get-togethers and, most importantly, dates with Eve to keep me sane. Still, even tough these distractions were fun, there was always the specter of the Academy looming above.

Even after the finals, I and everybody else was too excited with waiting for the results and graduating.

All of this was over now. For the first in a long time, I had completely free time. No work, no upcoming tests, and no training cruises. Just waiting for what the future will bring.

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Spending the day with mom was dearly needed. She just has a kind of indominable energy around her that some people just have. Nothing could ever keep that woman down.

Dad was a navy man, like I’m trying to be. He was often gone long times, leaving me and mom at home. So, while I loved and admired him, mom was my more formative parent. She taught me to face the world head on, to never let it beat me down and to help my friends whenever possible.

Even after dad died in an accident, she was a shining beacon in the darkness that followed the notification form navy command. I realized in retrospect that she was suffering from the loss herself, but she never took it out on me or her friends.

I admire her for that and I aspire to be like her every day.

Together we spent most of the day relaxing and touring the public amenities that the Academy has to offer. She caught me up on gossip back home. A few people I barely remembered ad died, but most of the community was doing fine.

The dead included Mr. Erhart an ancient man who had lived close to a public park near my home. When I was a kid, he held a tight reign over the greenspace. Whenever me or my friends were too loud or rough, he shouted at us to stop.

Us kids hated him of course, but our parents appreciated that with him around we couldn’t get up to too many shenanigans.

Ah old man Erhart, I may not have liked you, but I will always remember you.

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After dinner, I accompanied mom to the shuttle port. She had taken some time off from her work as a doctor in the local clinic to attend my graduation. Her short holiday was now over, so she took the evening shuttle to be back at work tomorrow.

Before she left, she made me promise to spend a leave back home as soon as I get back to Sol.

The get-together with the guys didn’t happen yesterday, they were understandably busy with the own families. Instead, we are going to meet up later today.

Until then I’m going to catch up on some shows and later head to the flight simulators.

I also heard rumors that our assignments are coming through soon. I know that the navy wouldn’t have us sit idle for long, but I had guessed that we would have at least a week. But like I said, it’s just rumors. Nothing is certain yet.

Still, this just means enjoying the time I have left

Logging off