A Welcomed Surprise--Josh

My older cousin, and I have always been very close. We practically did everything
together for as long as I can remember. She was there when I was born and I was there for her High School graduation from Montclair High School. I even managed to give her the nickname “Yang” when I was very young that we all still use when talking with her. Yang was a huge part of everyone's lives and is known for being super relaxed and would do anything, one time she even hitchhiked all the way back from her college in Monterey Bay to our house in Fontana.
Yang was the first to go to college in the new generation of our family and it was a surprise when she told us she dropped out. We all thought she was wasting her ability and throwing away her chances at life, but then she told us her new plan, to become a United States Sailor. She had decided college wasn’t right for her and instead wanted to join the US Navy. This was an even bigger surprise than her sudden drop out, because if you ever met her you’d never think of her as the “Military” type. She is the least serious person in the entire family and literally can’t go five minutes without making some sort of joke. However the Navy was her new goal and nothing was going to stop her from achieving that goal. 

What followed for the next year was Yang doing the most exercise I had ever seen her do. She started eating clean immediately, working out everyday, running everyday and immediately changed her attitude and demeanor towards everything. We were all so incredibly

proud of her for how she was handling her new life. Nearing the end of December of 2018 she told us that she would ship out at the end of March in 2019. Navy bootcamp is about 2 months long so we wouldn’t be able to see her again until about June. 

When March of 2019 finally came about we held a huge goodbye party for her at our Aunt’s house. All of our Uncles and Aunts from mm Mom’s side had come to have fun and see her off. We had all kinds of foods and drinks and it was just a very good time, it almost made you forget what we were celebrating. That party was also the only time I had seen our other cousin Rachael be so drunk that I had to help her walk to the car where her brother was waiting to drive her home. As the end of the night came around Yang had given a small speech along the lines of “Thank you guys so much for everything you’ve done for me, thank you for always supporting me and I love you all.” that line alone was able to put all the Aunts into a crying mess, and I won’t lie it was getting to me alittle bit too. At the very end of the night borderline morning we had said our goodbyes and good lucks and went back home. That would be the last time I’d seen her for awhile. 

As time went on we had received a few letters from her and our parents told us there was a problem at the Navy boot camp and Yang would have to stay their for another month while they sorted things out. This was a huge let down to me as I was really hoping that we could spend the summer together again. However, our parents also told us we needed to clean the house as my Mom’s friend needed a place to stay for a week while they fumigated her house. I didn’t think much of it at the time while I was cleaning or preparing the house but something about the way they said it had made me feel like they were lying but either way I didn’t really care.

The day for my Mom’s friend to come to the house finally rolled around. My dad had pulled me aside and asked for my help to bring in all her bags. As we began walking past my Mom I saw her phone had her camera open and I thought to myself “That's kinda weird” as my dad opened the door I saw our other cousin, yang’s sister first at the end of the walkway and I was really confused. Then as you could probably guess by now, Yang stepped out from behind my Mom’s car and it was the best surprise I had ever gotten in a long time. She was standing there in her Uniform just waiting for us, and after seeing her it was the only time I had ever cussed in front of my Mom because I was so excited to see her there. It felt like I hadn’t seen her in years and I was so happy to finally see her again. 

She stayed with us for a week before having to leave again to go to her job training. She is currently deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, as a fighter jet mechanic. She has been gone for about 3 almost 4 months now and her deployment should be ending soon. I’m hoping my parents try and surprise us again with her Homecoming.