Tonight my dog Ginger had to be put down.

I got Ginger on February 24, 2011. I had been home from Afghanistan for about three months. My thoughts were all over the damn place. I was lonely. I was living at the farm by myself. I didn’t have anybody to turn to. I was losing my friends to suicide left and right, and I didn’t care if I lived or died.

Hell, I was drunk all the time at the Elks. That’s what I did — I’d work, I’d drink, I’d go home, and I’d sit in that silence. I was driving around with a pistol in the center console because it wasn’t a matter of if I was going to do it, it was just a matter of which drunken night it was going to be.

Then I got Ginger.

I can’t imagine what it was like for her, living with me back then. If I wasn’t at work or school, I was sitting at home, drunk, staring at that gun next to me. Every time I thought about picking it up, Ginger would walk over, lay her head in my lap, and look at me with those eyes — eyes that said, “Please don’t.”

Wanna talk about eye opening? That was it.

We’d go for walks at one, two, even four in the morning — when I’d wake up thinking the detainees from Afghanistan were out in my fields. I’d see ghosts of my friends who died, standing in the dark, haunting me. And Ginger… she’d just stay with me. No judgment. No words. Just there.

Like any veteran with PTSD, I wasn’t easy to love. I’d yell at her for caring about me, tell her I was broken, tell her she needed to figure out how to take care of herself because I was a piece of shit. And she’d just look at me like she didn’t believe a single word I said.
​

Ginger never wore a uniform, but she served with more courage than most people will ever understand. She didn’t just see me through a war — she helped me survive coming home from one.
Her story belongs here because she’s part of why I’m still here.

​Well there I was….. having a beer with Chris Westerdahl on the beach in Galveston, TX at the Brick House Tavern and Tap, on November 2 2022, when he says “are you a turtle?” To which I replied “no” and the next thing I know he said “we’ll be ready to have your life changed” and dug into his wallet….and the rest is still a mystery!!!

Well not so much a mystery really, actually a simple google search will land you hundreds of websites dedicated to educating about the Ancient & Honorable Order of Turtles.  But to get the most out of the initiation its best to learn it from a Turtle! 

I look forward to doing everything I can to become a Master Imperial Turtle! That means that I will be responsible for initiating 500 members into the Turtle Club.

​TURTLE RANK

​Various offshoots of the original club may vary but the founder established the following:

• ​Candidate Someone wishing to become a member of the Order.
  • Turtle Any Brother or Sister Turtle initiated into the Order through the initiation and interrogation ceremony.
  • Snapping Turtle A Brother or Sister who has initiated at least 25 new Turtles into the Order.
  • Grand Snapping Turtle A Brother or Sister who has initiated at least 50 new Turtles into the Order
  • Imperial Turtle A Brother or Sister who has initiated at least 100 new Turtles into the Order.
  • Past Imperial Turtle A Brother or Sister who has initiated at least 150 new Turtles into the Order.
  • Master Imperial Turtle A Brother or Sister who has initiated at least 500 new Turtles into the Order.
  • Supreme Imperial Turtle Emeritus This title is held by the successor to the founder (currently held by Bro. Denis P. McGowan, son of founder Hugh P. McGowan.)

So join me as I head on this journey to initiate 500 Turtles!

​I will be documenting my journey in the comments below.

I spent 1 year, 1 month and 26 days waiting on this planet for the person God wanted me to spend my eternity with to arrive on this planet. Her parents named Elizabeth Ann Leretsis! (07 Sept 1983 - 01 Nov 1984)

I would spend 19 years, 4 months and 2 days waiting to meet my soul mate who lived 555 miles away from me, our entire childhood. And watch her walk aboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). (01 Nov 1984 - 02 March 2004)

We would serve for 9 months and 18 days stationed aboard the greatest Aircraft Carrier the world has ever known, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), and earn the title of Shipmates! (2 March 2004 - 18 Dec 2004)

We would spend the next 14 years, 7 months and 25 days in a long distance Friendship, having feelings for each other and never acting on them. (02 March 2004 - 20 Oct 2012)

7 years, 2 months and 2 days not talking to the girl I was madly in love with, being scared to reveal my feelings to her! (18 Dec 2004 - 20 Oct 2012)

7 days from the time I started talking to my
Old friend till I would drive the 686 miles (10 Hrs and 22 min) and tell her I loved her and missed her! (20 Oct 2012 - 27 Oct 2012)

27 Oct 2012 - FIRST KISS!! (3,161 Days)

1 Day until she would ask me if we could be in an “exclusive relationship” (28 Oct 2012)

28 OCT 2012 - MY FIRST “ I LOVE YOU” (3,162 Days)

12 NOV 2013 - HER FIRST “I LOVE YOU” (3,177 Days)

1 month and 2 days after we become reunited we would buy a Diamond Engagement ring! (28 Nov 2012)

4 months 2 days later I would formally propose in the Buffalo Airport. After getting permission from her dad the day before (29 March 2013)

6 months and 28 days later I would marry my best friend and Shipmate in Ocean City, Maryland! (26 Oct 2013)

2 years 10 months and 8 days later She would make us parents by giving birth to our son William “The Admiral” Frederick Little, in Ft Belvoir Virginia. (02 Sept 2016)

1 year 6 months and 8 days later she would make us parents again by giving birth to our daughter Mary “The Commodore” Isabelle Little in Bethesda Maryland at the Presidents Hospital! (09 March 2018)

We have been friends now for 15 years and 8 Months as of her birthday today.

In a relationship for 7 years and 6 days as her birthday today!

Married for 6 years and 7 days as of her birthday today!

Parents to the best Son on the planet, and future Admiral in the US Navy for 3 years and 2 months as of her birthday today!

And

Parents to the most beautiful Daughter, and future Admiral in the US Coast Guard for 1 year 7 months and 24 days as of her birthday today!

I don’t know what she did without me in her life every day for 26 years 6 months and 4 days.....but I do know my life couldn’t have better any better without her in mine for the last 2,568 Days!

I literally must have took off sprinting at that point, because by the time I got to them, I was panting and out of breath, and I’m not talking I’m overweight at that point. I’m in the best shape of my life and this girl has my heart beating so fast and hard it is about to jump out of my chest!

“Hey I’m ABH3 Little....”

Literally blows my mind that this girl even notices me after I introduce myself like this.

“AN Leretsis, In checking into Air Department, they are sending me to V1 Fly 1”

Yup at this point I am about to faint....”I work in Fly 1”

We would spend the next year becoming great friends, but for some reason ended up with two different people. I volunteered to cross deck to the USS Tarawa (LHA 1) in December of that year. Life would take up both in several different directions and the last time I seen her was 18 December 2004.

I spent 8 years thinking about my Shipmate. I completed some deployments on Active Duty, left Active Duty, joined the Reserves, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Came home and you all know this story but started down this struggle with PTSD. Tried to commit suicide, lost everything, gained most of it back, and was trying to put it all together but struggling to do it on my own.

Then one day I’m on my phone about to drive to Tennessee for a court hearing I didn’t want to go to, and while I’m outside the court house, Facebook says it has some suggestions for me to be friends with. Ok, I’ll bite, nope, nope, nope, hey I wondered what happened to that guy, nope, nope, WHAT!!! Immediately my heart starts racing and pounding, my tie feels likes it about to strangle me. When did her last name change” “why did her last name change to Leretsis” “Ok Mike play it cool; she may not even add you back for a few weeks, just click the button.” So I’m about to go into the court, and my phone buzzes, “Elizabeth Leretsis has accepted your friend request....yup I’m going to faint. So I shoot her a message real fast; “hey what’s up, we should catch up sometime”, no way she’s going to reply this that fast. *Buzz* “Sure here is my number”. So naturally I play it cool; and don’t reply for like 6 months! (Don’t judge me it’s been a long day and I had to figure some things out).

So we get to September 2012 and I am at an event for the Republican Party in McLeansboro, and this politician I really respect is retiring and starts talking about the importance of family, and going on about he couldn’t do any of this without his family, and I’m like; “I’m missing a family”. So I drive home and am sitting in my recliner, and I’m reading the Facebook feed and I see she’s online......”Hey Shipmate long time no talk!”

That conversation last until 2am and neither one of us wanted it to end.....

​To Be Continued.....

A few years ago, I started a web page, to tell my story, as I became a Veteran advocate, over time, it became somewhat of a resume, and a platform to share the articles I had been a part of and written. Then a few years ago, it became a place to tell my family story. A story that is full of history, to me anyway. Maybe its a way to share with my parents the parts of my life they are missing while I am in the Military, maybe its a way to show my clients the work I am capable of. Regardless of any of this, it is my story, that I am happy and excited to share with anyone willing to read it.

Today, I am sharing the story of my family farm. A place that is just as magical to me, as disneyland is to most of you. Its the place that I was raised, the place I sought shelter as my darkest hours of PTSD overwhelmed my life. Its the place I go to recharge my soul, and find my purpose. I don't do much there. Most of the time you will find my sitting in my recliner, watching TV.  At least once a day no matter how hot or cold it is, raining of snowing, you will find me walking to the mailbox, shooting a gun or two, or doing what I love most in that old house, cooking up a nice home cooked meal.  

I think the most memorable room in my house is the kitchen.  When I am there, its the room I spend a majority of my time in, because that is the room my Grandma spent about 90% of her time in.   She would sit at her kitchen table, drinking her instant coffee, chain smoking cigarettes before the sun came up and late into the night.  She would read several books throughout the year, and go to the living room to stoke the fire place in the winter, and to watch the nightly news on tv. We would sit at the table and have many conversations while I was in high school and every time I would come home from the Navy.   I think it is the main reason why I enjoy that room so much.   I can sit in there and cook on the gas stove and bake things, while looking out at the window she loved so dearly, and remember all the great times we had living in that old house. 

Today, I built a page on my site to highlight the history of my home and why it is so special to me.  Its no wonder why it is so special and the place that recharges me, it is so full of history, and the central part of my families existence.  I have always been proud of the name I wear on my uniform in the Navy, one side I wear the branch of service I have been honored to serve since 9/11, and the other side I wear a name in honor of a family who taught me the meaning of becoming a man.  

This post will serve as a backdrop for many post to come, as I try my best to tell the story of my family.  The journey starts with me, and as you can see on the first few pages of this site, I have done a pretty good job of telling that story so far, the next part is the plot of land we call ours.  You can find that story by clicking on the link below. ​

The next day, Mike called my dad, unknown to me, and asked him if he could marry me. I guess he was kinda nervous, even though he said it was only an 8 minute conversation, he also said it seemed to last forever.
On Good Friday, March 29, 2013, Mike was putting on his uniform to go to the airport. He felt something hit him in the arm as he was putting on his Jumper top, and found a Challenge Coin that was given to him by one of his close friends that he served with in Afghanistan just minutes before he was killed in a car accident. Mike said when Arvin handed him the coin he said "You were a great Petty Officer and it was an honor to serve with you, God has a plan for all of us. I will see you in the morning, brother!"
Once Mike got the airport he had no idea how he was going to propose to me, he knew he couldn't live without me anymore and wanted to have me in his life for the rest of his. As he was sitting on the plane he placed my beautiful ring on top of his Challenge Coin, and did lots of hard thinking. Finally it came to him that he should place the ring with the Challenge Coin and ask me.
When he got off the plane, I couldn't stand it any more and I just wanted to see him so badly. Finally, there he was coming down the escalator towards me. He was in his Army Battle Dress Uniform that he wore while he was in Afghanistan, and I couldn't help but notice all the weight he had lost, and I was just so in love with him and proud of all he had accomplished. There was nobody in the Airport and we quickly gave each other a kiss and the longest hug ever. I noticed Mike was shaking and I just figured he was going to tell me about his coin, so as he held me close, I just listened. He told me about when he came home 3 years and 6 months ago he had a bitter return and was not happy. He told me about all the controversy he had dealt with, and how it had only started to get better in the last 5 months since we came back into each others lives.
He handed me the coin he had in his hand, and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful it was. He had overcome so much and I was so proud of him. He then told me how he had decided he couldn't stand being away from me any more than he had to, and that he had talked to my dad yesterday.
Then he told me to turn the coin over.........THERE IT WAS! The most beautiful and magnificent engagement ring I had ever laid my eyes on! I think I started to shake I was so excited, he held me even closer and everything just seemed to stop around us.
He took the ring out of the coin package and put it on my finger, and I told him that I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else. We got to my car, and I called EVERYONE! Then he posted it on Facebook, and after stopping by to see a few of my Coast Guard friends, we went to Red Robin. We told them our story, and they surprised us, by not only making us a card on the spot, but by paying for our entire meal! It was the best Easter weekend ever. I am so lucky to have Mike in my life again, and I am so excited for our future!!!