"Well, sweetie, Amelie then," I responded, my sarcasm perhaps outside the grasp of her perception, "Welcome to the greatest country in the world, the ...United States of America — your new home!" Ah oui, home of the beeg Mac, George Bush and the whooper," my sneering niece answered.'Jesus, ' I thought, silently appraising the beautiful, young woman in front of me, 'I wonder how long it will take me before I have that haughty smirk wiped off her face.' And Amelie was beautiful, even more attractive. Once I got the colonel on the phone, unfortunately I couldn’t stop talking – what we call in the Marine Corps “diarrhea of the mouth.”“Hi Colonel, how are you, how’s the family, how’s things at Eighth and I. Listen colonel, you know my knee has really improved in the past year and I don’t think I would have any trouble passing the PFT (Physical Fitness Test), and I really miss the Marine Corps, and do you think there’s any chance I could get back in? I realize I probably couldn’t go back as a. Just then, I thought I heard a click from somewhere behind me. I quickly glanced over my shoulder, but couldn't tell where the sound had come from. I shrugged my shoulders and headed into my office.An hour or so later I was just putting the finishing touches on my office when my office phone began ringing. I was so startled after the quiet morning I'd had so far, that I knocked several books off the shelf I was organizing. I fumbled for the phone, but by the time I'd answered it there was. Headquarters. Yes, we would find out how Juliana liked my old haunts. Herman and I would be allowed on post because Herman had Army plates and I knew the M.P.’s anyway. They wouldn’t question Juliana because they would fall in love with her looks. This would be fun for a couple of days or so.We arrived. It was weird to be back and I was a civilian.First thing: I took Juliana to Jay and Lenny’s apartment in town to introduce her. They hit it off. We ate dinner and spent time talking about.