Modern Vespa

When my wife and I were 1st time parents, we lived in the US, and like many young couples, had to juggle work and parenthood. This was made easier by a wonderful middle aged widow who lived nearby who ran a small day care out of her home.

She only took 4 or 5 kids at a time, and our daughter got her last open slot to replace another child who had 'graduated' to nursery school.

Another couple from our neighborhood also left their daughter with this woman, and the two became good friends (or as close as toddlers can get).

Fast forward a bunch of years and we now live in Israel. It turns out that the other little girl's family also moved to Israel (a few years before we did).

Our daughter is now serving as a drill instructor at a very special basic training base. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that this special basic training base/course was designed by the army to give young men from 'troubled' backgrounds (meaning anything from criminal offenses, to broken families to severe learning and/or discipline issues, etc.), who by most standards were deemed completely unsuited for military life, a last chance to rejoin society on an equal footing.

All of the drill instructors at this special base are specially trained, hand-picked female soldiers who not only are expected to be stronger,faster, and better than their trainees at every task... but are also required to be hard as nails and as patient as saints.

Unlike most basic training courses, the drill instructors at this base are not allowed to mold their charges through yelling or intimidation. Rather, they take these young men, many of whom have never experienced discipline or success in any form in their lives... and through consistency and sheer force of will, show them how to succeed and become disciplined soldiers.

Some truly wonderful success stories come out of this base.

But the most interesting story for us is that one of the other drill instructors serving with my daughter is this other little girl who was her friend in daycare all those years ago.

Here are the before and after shots:

Great story. Love to see our kids succeed in life. And, have some very proud parents!

Another great story from Trepp, with pictures!

Amazing!!! You must be Proud Parents...

Our Son who is 19 and a Sophmore in College is going on a 10-day Birthright to Israel in May.

When I was 18 I spent four month on Kibbutz Revivim in the Negev. Wonderful experience!

Cheers,

G ( John Segal)

Very cool. It is a small world. Have many stories. Weird being in the middle of nowhere on my travels and meet someone who we both know from NY oe for that matter live around where i grew up. 8)

Mazel Tov Trepp, we all should have good reasons to be so proud of our children.
It too is of constant amazement to me that I can travel with a chance that I may see someone that I either knew or someone with mutual aquaintences...
Or my children for that matter. They too second guess when someone may approach them and ask, "is your father ______?"

Great story Trepp. I recall your story of when she first joined. I imagine her success has allayed some of your initial fears. Her mission says volumes of the kind of woman she is. My best to you all.

This is why I want to live to be old (not that you're old). I want to see how my children turn out. I want to see them grown and starting their own adult lives well. I look forward to the pride you feel now.

Mazel Tov!

What a great story, and a good way to get my week kicked off. Thanks, for that, Trepp. And give my best to your daughter and her friend.

Great story Trep. She doesn't look "hard as nails"

How cool is that?

Great story...as always.

Don't push your luck. Its all in the training. Intensity is a switch that she has been trained to turn on at will.

Dang it Sticky you have over 17,500 posts and you joined two years after me. I guess I need to post a bit more...

Great story! Wait a sec, I got something in my eye. There I wiped it away.

Nice!

That's a wonderful story. Often the apple falls close to the tree. If anyone stands a chance of saving the souls of lost boys, it's a Treppenwitz.

Forum loquaciousness I'm afraid. Doesn't hurt my riding time though.

Thanks so much for sharing

Great story and pics. Thanks Trepp.

I like the way my aunt put it, "You plant tomatoes, you get tomatoes."

What a great story, Trepp! Honestly, if it weren't for the pictures (and the fact that you're probably THE most morally/truthfully/ethically credible person on MV), I'd have called b.s.!

As always, thanks for sharing...

While I appreciate the compliment and am pleased to be perceived in such a positive light, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Selective sharing can be a subtle form of dishonesty... and I admit to sharing only things that are likely to paint me in the most positive way.

There are several people here on MV (particularly among the moderators) who call a spade a spade when necessary, and are not bothered by how they will be perceived. THAT, is what I consider 'morally/truthfully/ethically credible' behavior.

I'm just a guy who likes to share snapshots of my life that I think others might find interesting. But I keep the unflattering shots to myself.

So we will probably never see those pics of you in a Speedo?

Sure, so long as you don't mind that they are from when I was 19.

TREP here's one for you. Walked downstairs after i got off of MV and my phone rings. My friend wanted to tell me she'd be gone until mid May on a QE2 cruise and that she was leaving thur. She never calls me to tell me. My other friend just left for a QE2 cruise where she'll be teaching water coloring painting to the passengers for a month. The QE is on a world cruise and both of my friends will be on it at the same time. Now they know one another from a mutual friend we all had that died. That was years ago and while i'm friends with them both i never really talk about them, with the them. What are the odds? The only other person i know whose gone on a QE trip is me but i just had the ticket and didn't go. When i left Saudi i flew home the Concorde and the return was te QE2 to London (flew out of London on the Concorde). I just wanted to stay home and get my stuff out of storage and enjoy the US. Been a rough 2 1/2 years with the gulf war and all. None of my friends wanted the cruise either. The universe works in strange ways.

How cool great story!