Bonita Spears (Collins) (Donnell):  

Life So; you are visiting and probably wondering; what I've been up to. I guess I should probably begin at the beginning of my adult life. I left home in the late seventies for the Army. I didnt have a plan but, what I wanted was to get my parents off my back. They just wanted me to do something with my life. I had no plan and I didnt really care for school. So, you see; I had already taken the military entrance exam during my junior year of HS. I went to MEPS on a Friday and left the following Monday. I took my entire family by surpirse. I believe I surprised them even more when I made it through Boot Camp. Before both I and my family knew it, I had completed ten years and I was returning from the first Gulf War. It really didnt happen that quickly. You see, well, let me just start from the end of my military life and then work my way to the present just to make your reading a little more interesting. I completed over twenty years of active duty service in the Army. The Army was not always easy with regards to being a female or a minority. You have to remember that this was the late seventies. My mission or assignments were not always the best but, it was a good for me because it caused me to learn, grow and to most importantly mature. I wish that I can say that I always had the very best assignments and supervisors but, I have to admit that I cannot say that that was my experience. All of my assignments were the best nor can I say that I had good supervisors everytime because we had to take the good with the bad. We had and still have a "suck it up" mentality in the military. You do just that when you are unhappy and things may not change until that mission is done,supervisor is replaced or your name comes up to rotate. What I can say is that I learned from each and every assignment and experience that I had. What I can draw from my military experience is that it was a learning experience that I will never outgrow nor forget. Through the Army I have had the opportunity to see the world. I have lived in a few exciting far away lands. I lived in Germany for six years, Korea for a year, Saudi-Arabia and Iraq for 7.5 months, and Haiti for 6 months. I enjoyed Haiti most because I thought that was where my mission allowed us to do the most good and actually see the benefit of that mission. I have lived a few places in the US to include CO, MD, GA, VA, NJ and of course MI. I received both my AA and BA degrees. I will one day return to school to complete an MA when I find the resources. I am divorced and I have four sons and one daughter in law. My sons range in ages from 26-15. My youngest sons are twins. Over a year ago my eldest got married and we added another addition to our family. I finally got a daughter after all of this time. I truly believe that some parents were meant to raise girls and some just boys and I am one of those that are meant to raise boys because I think that my lifestyle as a soldier was much to rough, tough and rugged to raise a girl. I have never been the powder puff type or much of the pink wearing girly, girly however; I have found that fluffy girly girl inside of me over the past eight years now that I have ended my Army career. I am very happy that I got to know her. I am rather choicey when it comes to friends. I think that military instilled that in me and that was one of those better qualities that I have held on to. As a result, I have some of the most wonderful people in my life that will do anything for me and my children and I am grateful to God for them. I also have an awesome guy that helps me to realize that I can have both a + relationship and a career. What I have learned...Expand for more