Sav Day 4
If you aren’t from the South, or have never spent some time down here you might not be familiar with the slow down on Sunday. Coming from New York, it seems like everything you want is open all the time with the focus on convenience. But down here, I believe Sunday is treated more like a reset. A lot of businesses are closed and you see more people taking time for worship, or to spend the day with family or friends. With that being said rather than going to a business, I decided to donate to a charity; The Sua Sponte Foundation.
Since we are still in the unpacking process, we spent our Sunday morning sleeping in, and then organizing some of our stuff as we unpack the last of the boxes. It feels more like our home everyday. A little background on my fiancé Leo and I; him and I are both from New York. I am from the Hudson Valley and he is from Westchester County. I grew up a little over an hour outside New York City, and he was just about 20 minutes above it. We met a few years ago while out in Manhattan at a bar called The Gem Saloon. I was visiting a friend from college, shoutout Madeline, and she lived right near The Gem. Leo is a West Point graduate, and was actually stationed and living in Italy at the time. He was just home for leave and a course he was about to take in Georgia. I would say I hate to sound cliche, but it really kind of was love at first sight, major butterflies so say the least. We spent all week together until he left for Georgia, then talked all through his time there. Not too long later, I was visiting family in Copenhagen, Denmark, then I flew to Venice, Italy right on Valentine’s Day, where Leo and I met back up. Think that sounds too good to be true? Me too, I am still pinching myself. But wait, it gets better. The next day we left for Interlaken, Switzerland where I got to ski the Alps for the first time. Little did I know, that was just the beginning of the very far from traditional relationship we would have.
Fast forward a few months, he moves to Savannah, Georgia and then promptly leaves for a deployment. Fast forward a bit, he comes back to Savannah, little less than a year later deploys again, then comes back to Savannah again, moves to Arizona, we get engaged, and then back to Savannah one more time. And that brings us to today. All caught up? Sometimes when I actually think about the whirlwind of the past few years for him, I am amazed.
Stick with me here, I promise I am going somewhere with all this that connects back to local Savannah. But this needs to be said, Leo is the most caring man I have ever met, and I truly mean that, not just another cliche I am writing here. I have always said to him, even though our relationship wasn’t exactly convenient, it is so easy to be with him. Being with him has made me realize things I did not even know were possible in a partner. I look back in gratitude that I did not get what I wanted in other parts of my life. The series of events brought us together were worth it. To find someone so supportive and encouraging has motivated me even on the worst of days. When his new job brought him back down here to Savannah, he asked me to go with him, and the timing was finally right for us to be together in the same place. He is apart of the 75th Ranger Regiment, where he works as a military intelligence officer. And finally that leads me to local foundation I chose to support; the Sua Sponte Foundation, where their mission is
“Providing Assistance to 1/75th Rangers and their Families
The Sua Sponte Foundation is an all-volunteer 501c3 non-profit organization comprised of a small group of veteran 1/75 Rangers and patriotic civilians. The Foundation was created in 2010 to provide assistance to Rangers and families of the 1st Ranger Battalion, part of the U.S. Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment based at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Ga. The Foundation’s name, Sua Sponte – Latin for “of their own accord” –is the regimental motto.
With the support of donations from individuals and businesses, the Sua Sponte Foundation:
Assists 1/75 Rangers and their families in times of crisisHosts and sponsors events to increase the morale and cohesiveness of the 1/75 Rangers and their familiesMaintains and cares for the 1/75 Memorial site to the highest standard
It is the Sua Sponte Foundation’s goal to ensure ninety-eight percent (98%) of donations go directly to its mission and cause.”
So while we reset, reorganized, and hung out with our pets on Sunday, I still wanted to make sure I stayed true to myself on supporting a local organization today. And this seemed like the perfect fit. Thank you again for reading, and listening to me gush about Leo.
