We're in the van on the way home from eating at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.
We pull off the freeway at our exit and decide to stop at the Exxon near our house for a cup of coffee.
The parking lot is packed with cars and trucks, some filling their tanks and some just stopping for sodas or cigarettes. The freeway, above the station, is a flurry of cars and yet they are not visible from where we are. The night has settled in all around the neighborhood and there is blackness up and down the nearby streets. Yet, the gas station and its concrete corner is flooded with florescent lights and buzzes with life.
The people are mostly in a rush, as they move to and from the store to purchase their goods. We drive slowly into the parking lot.
Suddenly, I hear my son, in the back seat, scream out in excitement.
He has seen ........ the Army soldiers.
"Dude ... you guys are awesome!" he yells at the window, as he raises a fist in the air. "You guys are awesome and you drive Humvees!"
The Army soldiers, at least six large transport vehicles and three Humvees, have gathered at the station for refueling on their way to Camp Bullis. Camp Bullis is a Military Training Camp near to where we live. There are often soldiers at the Exxon and they never escape my boy's attention.
I turn around in my seat just in time to see the glory sparkle from my son's eyes. The pride. The fascination. The Joy. And then he turns in my direction and he smiles.
We glide easily through the parking lot and find a spot near the front door. My son follows his father into the store, to beg for candy for he and his little sister. When they return, they walk past our van and out into the lighted parking lot, towards a Humvee parked out near the road. I move behind the drivers seat and drive our car over to where they now stand.
As I pull up, I see my husband talking to one of the soldiers and my son is leaning in the passenger door talking with another; I can see only the top of his head above the window.
I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture of this moment on my cell phone's camera ... the moment ... my son ... met his heroes.
When my son climbed back into the car, I turned in my seat to see him. He said, so proudly, "I told them they're awesome and they let me sit in their Humvee." He wore a big ol' smile on his face ... the whole way home. And so did I.
He does so love ... the sight of a soldier.
Don't we all.