The home front would be my jurisdiction including the raising of Timmy and Karen. While I protested receiving so much delegated authority with zero experience, he insisted he trusted my judgment and pointed out how poor a job he was doing at present. I couldn't argue that point. I promised and he agreed we would work together and learn from one another. The challenge of my spearheading the drive to family normalcy was daunting and petrifying.
My first telephone conversation with Karen began with her question, "So when do you get married?"
"Whoa!" I said. "We haven't even talked about what kind of wedding we'd have."
"A fast one," Karen said to my amusement.
I spoke to my supervisor at the military base where I had been putting in a half-hearted job of teaching. He wasn't surprised when I told him I was engaged to marry and might be requesting an early termination to my commitment. He had given me a hard time over my so-called sick days when I first remained in Boston, so when he obligingly asked only that I give him a week or two notice. I was pleasantly surprised. I spent the balance of the week counting the hours until I earned more frequent flyer miles with yet another flight to Boston.