I was resting on my huge comfy couch this morning and thinking about all of the stuff I had to do around my Phoenix apartment when I noticed it was a little chilly and I grabbed a pale green blanket and put it over my legs. Now this was no ordinary blanket....it's a blanket I've had for over 24 years and that I first received in the fall of 1983. Yes...you west pointers out there know exactly what I'm talking about...I STILL have my green girl. Plebes at West Point are issued a khaki green comforter sometime in the beginning of the fall academic year. These are traditionally called "Green girls" because, I think, they are the only women the male cadets sleep with. We female cadets tried calling ours "Green guys" for a while but the "Green girl" name just sort of stuck. Also, I guess it started actually as a comforter but it is so thin and pretty threadbare now....it seems like more of a blanket. Well, traditionally, upperclassmen grab your "Green girl" that first night and sleep with her and "deflower" the comforter. I hate to think about what that could mean besides just being slept with...ick.... The next morning the upperclassmen bring the blanket back and toss her on your bed. Nice (also a good reflection of how many of these guys feel about women in general). Anyway, I wasn't going to allow my green girl to get "slept with" by any of those goons and I hid her that first night. Afterwards, it was me and my green girl every night. Every cadet sleeps with the green girl because you can sleep on top of your bed (without making it) and jump up every morning and just have to tighten up the covers. One night a week (the night before laundry was taken), the covers were "broken" and you slept on the sheets. This night was called "Hotel night." So....basically...the laundry at WP was cleaning relatively clean sheets every week because everyone only slept on them one time. Hotel night or not....I slept with my trusty green girl all through WP. She has absorbed many tears.
She traveled with me to my first assignment in at the Officer's Basic Course at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. She waited patiently for me in the Bachelor Officer's Quarters at Ft. Benning, Georgia while I ran around like an idiot at Airborne School. She flew with me to Frankfurt, Germany to my first assignment at the 533d Military Intelligence Battalion. She didn't go on the many many maneuvers with me around Germany but she did come with me to Desert Storm. Yes...I brought my blanket to war. Every night, after I'd put my boots in a safe place (to avoid having them filled with critters in the morning), I'd uncurl my sleeping bag and my little green friend was inside waiting for me...any my .45 caliber pistol...and my M16A2. Yes...it's probably no big surprise that you sleep with your weapons...especially during a war. They're usually very very cold and sort of pokey though.
She traveled back to Germany and then back to Ft. Huachuca for the Advanced Course. She went with me to Ft. Meade, MD and she moved down to Arlington, VA when I resigned my commission and worked for a law firm in DC as a paralegal. She moved up to Vermont with me for law school -- where she was very much needed. She kept me warm many times during those cold days. I even brought her to the library once...(showing her off)...this was the Dartmouth Library which allows dogs and has an english department library portion which serves tea and cookies in the afternoon. They put a 2" x 4" across the arms of your chair and serve it. Cool. I think my green girl liked that. Except when I spilled the tea on her. I think I've spilled almost every kind of food on her as well. (I'm not particularly tidy when it comes to food.) No one minded that I brought my blanket.
I brought my blanket to Los Angeles for my clerkship and we stayed in that city for over 11 years. She didn't go with me to Italy on vacation though (she stayed home and held down the fort -- also...someone had to take care of Spike). Speaking of Spike, I think he's vomited and pee'ed on that blanket 100s of times....(just like most of my clothing). So...it's not surprising that this blanket is with me in Phoenix and will be with me wherever else I go next.
I'm a 42 year old woman with a blanket. Yes, I'm saying that out loud. I'm sort of like Linus except I don't carrry it around all the time. Can a person have a sentimental attachment to a blanket? Aren't there a bunch of kids running around holding blankets? Does this mean that I'm just immature? Probably. I'm not giving her up though.
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