Most mornings Matt drives a mile down the street and parks the car at our local Park and Ride.
He boards the express bus, sits back and listens to the radio and 30 minutes later arrives in downtown Seattle.
A couple of steps, a transfer to the light rail and another block or so and he is at work.
At a secret Amazon lab.
In Seattle, Wa.
He has been working at this location for about 6 weeks, and still every night when he comes home he has that same look on his face, tired and amazed. Tired from the full schedule that fills his days and amazed that he is working at this job, in this location, at this very exciting time.
He celebrates his accomplishments, the team's accomplishments and dreams big for his future. For the first time in a long time he believes he is making a difference, he is doing something for a company he gets excited about.
On Matt's last day in the Army, I met him in Seattle for dinner.
We talked a lot about our Army life, and we were thankful. We may joke about the annoying things that we had to put up with as a military family, but in the end - we LOVED our time in the Army. We grew up, we saw our greatest joys and our deepest hurts, we bonded with a community of people who regardless of personal believe or convictions will stand before every ceremony and respectful listen to the prayers of a chaplain. We met people who instantly became friends just simply because we sat together at a ball, a Hail and Farewell or bumped in to each other at a Company BBQ. The Army family is perhaps the Army's greatest asset. The bond is remarkable.
We talked a lot about our future. And we feel so blessed. We are blessed to have been provided this amazing job opportunity for Matt. And blessed that he is part of a team of people he actually enjoys working with. Already Matt is starting to see doors and windows open to provide him opportunities to grow professionally.
And, after all this time I finally accompanied him the the South Lake Union offices that house this company. He doesn't work in these buildings, but he often has meetings in them. This is where the VP's and CEO do their thing day in and out.
We took the elevator to the 28th floor and roamed around the different offices, dining areas, looked out windows and smiled. A lot.
This is not your typical stuffy office building.
This my friends is Amazon.
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