Blue Angel (of my dreams)

My mom and I took an impromptu trip (is there a better kind?) to Idaho last weekend to visit family, celebrate birthdays, see temple open houses, and see a Blue Angels air show. Attending a Blue Angels show is pretty much like stepping into the movie Top Gun- very loud and very cool. If I was a 7-year old boy, I'd be making all sorts of plans to "be a pilot when I grow up" right about now.

I was super impressed, as far I could have been, having suffered car sickness on the way there and 3 hours of heat exhaustion during the show. I had to sit in the shade of a helicopter wing for the last half hour of the show and resting my head in my hands, felt myself slipping into unconsciousness when a Navy man tapped me on the shoulder. "WHAT!?!?" I yelled, and jumped several feet into the air. "Oh, I'm just tired," I preemptively explained.
"Are you OK?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I said, making huge efforts to sit up, make hand gestures, and open my eyes wide so as to show him I was awake and just fine. "I'm just tired."
"Well that is one of the first signs of heat exhaustion," he said. "We have to watch out for people who could be suffering from the heat." He gave me a bottle of cold water and walked away. I sat up and tried to pay attention and like I was doing swell, looking back every once in a while to see if he was watching me. God bless him for giving me the water, but I was embarrassed and didn't want anymore gestures of first aid made on my part.

When we finally got up to leave after the show was over, I walked absentmindedly. I literally felt like I had lost my mind in the heat and strangely, my feet were still moving in a forward direction even though I couldn't be directing them. We walked through the dirt and heat and sweat and pain. The Blue Angel pilots were signing autographs off to the right by their impressive planes and when my family went over to get a better look at the heroes, I walked over too, my brain gone. I was sunburnt, sweating, dirty, and tired, but I saw this, and suddenly my eyes opened wide.



He was not in his plane, but signing autographs (yes, I googled him- give me a break- and this was the best pic of him). "Who is that?" I wondered, and quickly scanned through the program. Maj. Nathan M. Miller US Marine Corps, Opposing Solo.

I tapped my mom's shoulder. "He is key-oootte!" I said, and pointed. "And... no ring!" She stared for a moment, and then with clear purpose, made her way straight into the center of the gob of 7-year old pilot aspirees all pushing forward to have the hero sign their Blue Angels t-shirt or hat. She pulled out an old receipt and a pen from her purse and elbowed several a kid to get to the front of the line. She turned and waved for me to come over. "No!" I mouthed, content to watch from afar. He greeted her enthusiastically, talked to her as he signed her paper, looked up in an interested fashion when she said something, and then put his hand on her arm before she walked away.. "Oh my," I thought, more than slightly jealous.

I made the mistake of telling my cousins I thought the Blue Angel was cute. "Oh Sarah, MARRY HIM!!!" was their first (mild) response. They only got more adamant about the fact that I HAD to marry him, and he was obviously PERFECT FOR ME. Well yeah, he's perfect for me. After all, he is 1) gorgeous; 2) clearly a gentleman; 3) a man in uniform; and 4) an older man. "He's cute, and that's all!" I finally said, to stop the discussion, but made a firm commitment in my heart to google anything and everything about this man.

And yes, I have discovered he is single, and at least 11 years older than me. But I've always had a thing for older men. I'm not talking about a small thing. I've liked older guys since I knew how to have a crush. My entire teenage career was spent in fantasy over a man who lived down the street from me. He was at least 20 years my senior but to hell with age. He was established, hilarious, incredibly personable, had all his hair, was good looking just like Maj. Nathan Miller (and more so than 95% of the dork teenagers my age), and was lovely fodder for longing gazes during sacrament meeting every week. Although older man has been engaged for a long time, to this day I get butterflies when he talks to me or teases me.

Now that I am older, and clearly single (as...ever...blah) liking the older men is somewhat more socially acceptable now. I have no doubt I will marry someone quite a bit older than myself. Let's all just pray that it's Maj. Nathan Miller and that in addition to being a jet hero and clearly the perfect man, he can read minds, because I'm sending my phone number his way.

**post-script. Click the pictures to enlarge them. You really have to, to at least see those eyes.