X as in Zebra: ABCs of Military Life

Only 3 more days of the A to Z Challenge…

“X as in Zebra”

I really struggled with the letter X. At first I was thinking about X standing for X-Ray and talking about how X-Rays are handed our like candy on Halloween at the military medical facilities I’ve been to in the past. But I didn’t love that idea. Then I thought about having X stand for X-cited. But I felt that might be stretching it, especially since I just had W stand for Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel for the letter X I did what came natural…I called my mom. As soon I said I was smuggling with the letter X, she responded with, “you mean ‘X as in Zebra’…”

The Story Behind “X as in Zebra”

It was just over three years ago that we were living in Ohio. My husband was deployed to Afghanistan and I had just gone through major ankle surgery. I had decided to stay in Ohio with our dog Myka, and was lucky enough to have friends and family come to visit to help take care of Myka and I.

It was the week after my surgery that my parents came to visit. It had been a rough couple of days and I was frustrated with how much I needed help. There was stuff around the house, cooking was harder than I expected, the pain was getting to me, and I missed my husband. My parents were really going above and beyond to keep my spirits up. That particular day my father took Myka, to the vet. Which was/is no easy feat. Then he came back to the house and had decided to conquer figuring out why the motorcycle wouldn’t start. He was out in the garage reading the code off the battery one letter at a time, when he yelled, “X as in Zebra.” It took a second to register. I wasn’t sure what to write down, and he kept rattling off numbers and letter like nothing happened. Of course I was unable to ask if he meant X or Z because I couldn’t stop laughing. It went on for days, anytime it go too serious someone would say “X as in Zebra” and the laughter would start all over again. To this day I can’t listen to someone phonetically spell something without giggling on the inside.