Roomies
After landing in Okinawa, Japan, it was time to receive our assignment for a roomy. Looking through my lens of autism, all of this adjusting was purely matter-of-fact, for me. My father taught me (and my siblings) to become expert situational adapters. Sometimes there's no choice but to make due with the situation you've been given. There was, certainly, nothing I could do about the circumstance of deployment, so, adapt. I made the best of it and remember: I'm just 18 years old. As for my roomy, he introduced himself as Stanley K. Burrell. He said the "K" was for Kirk. I'm a big Star Trek fan, so, his name being Kirk (like Captain Kirk) and the fact we were in the Navy was, ironically, perfect. From that moment forward, I knew him as Kirk Burrell. Always curious and ready to take a new experience head on, my first purchase was a 10 speed bicycle. This was my transportation to...