Weekend activity

Barbecue at our house today with much of the extended family because my marine cousin is on leave for a week before reporting to his next station not a few hundred miles from here. No two ways about it, the marine corps tattoo he got is giant, covers most of the right side of his torso. He seemed a little bashful about showing it off, like, "oh god I'm going to have this forever, and people will know me by it, what did I do?" It was good to see him smiling as the last time I saw him was at marine graduation and he looked like he'd never smile again, a mix of painful pride, and real fear of the officers and sargents around him. I always thought he was kind of a mommas boy (says his ridiculous queer coward cousin) and that boot camp must have been a hell of a thing for a gentle lad.