I got to visit the CIA on family day one time. We were living in Washington DC while worked at FAA headquarters on a 1-year detail. One of my wife's family friends lived near where we lived and we got to go over and spend time with them.
She worked for the CIA and it was funny because every time we would ask her questions about her job she would gently bring up a different subject and we would move on. I caught on quickly but my wife took a few tries before she got the hint.
But she invited us to go with her on family day which was awesome. We got there and drove inside the gate which was imposing and intimidating just like in the movies. We parked and went up and went into the building. It was so awesome to see what had been shown in so many shows and be there in real life.
We actually got to go inside the gate, inside the building, and walk down the hallway with the signs sticking out from doors. I'm sure everything was declassified in there and it was no big deal. But it was still cool to see.
During this time we had little children and an infant with us. I carried a pouch, I wore a pouch, or fanny pack if you want to call it that. It had two bottle holders on either side of it. I kept water or some sort of drink in those bottle holders so that if I or the children got thirsty instead of having to listen to crying or whining or having to scramble to find something I'd have an instant thing for them to drink.
I also kept some snacks in there and other things that I wanted to have with me as we traveled about Washington DC and other places. While we were inside the building, or actually while we were headed inside the building, I unzipped my pouch to check for something for the kids. Or maybe I was getting a mint, I don't remember. But I realized that my 35 millimeter pocket camera was in there. I froze and I was kind of panicky because here I am inside the building at Langley with an unauthorized camera on family day.
I'm thinking as a federal government employee I'm about to get in lots of trouble. I showed it to our friend and told her yeah I didn't realize it was in there she said oh it's no big deal. Just don't say anything.
In my head I was thinking I'm about to get in so much trouble. But we went through security and nobody said a word about it. One of the results of me having my camera in there was I got to have my picture taken in front of a section of the Berlin Wall.
It was so amazing and to actually stand in front of a piece of history like that was awesome. Thank you. Sadly I can't find that picture. I know it was taken with my 35 millimeter camera that I carried around back then.
I know that I got it developed and I remember seeing the picture in my hands and our apartment. I think the picture got buried in the basement of our house when we moved back to Georgia. Over the years I'll take up the search again and again and see if I can find it.
As I go through all the pictures that we've taken over the years I smile and laugh and remember fondly the things that we were doing when the picture was taken. But I still haven't found that picture of me in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall.
Maybe one day I will find it.
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