Well, graduation was so much fun, I can't believe how quickly the time went. We drove out there on Tuesday night, stopping in Colorado, and got there Wednesday night at about 2:30 am...ugh!! It was a short night. Family started at 8:30, so we were up and going as soon as we could manage it.
We got good seats, and it was fun watching all the demonstrations. Especially the PT stuff. They did one legged push ups!! Then we got him for the rest of the day and we went to lunch and stuff. It was great.
Graduation was in the afternoon on Friday, so we got a little more rest -- though I don't sleep well in hotels, so ya know how that went. It was also humid and hot (although at least we had cloud cover) so the AC was on all night, and it was loud. sigh. Anyway -- graduation was inside a theater, and it was air conditioned, so it was really nice. He looked so good!
It was a neat program and everyone was taking pictures. I got one of him coming down the aisle, and he was as stone faced as ever. I asked him why he didn't smile, and he said they were told not to. Rigghhhtt..I saw lots of them smiling.
After graduation, when they were all in formation getting ready to go off base, one of the privates gave a drill sargent a bad time and said he was a liar, so he made all the guys do push ups in their uniforms...it was way cool to watch...grin.
Anyway, We got to spend the rest of the day with him and one of his unit members that didn't have any parents come (they couldn't afford it). That was fun -- we totally missed dinner though because everywhere was so crowded we couldn't get food and get them back to base in time.
Saturday he got a full day pass, so we got to play around with him more. The kids all went swimming in the pool. I didn't bring the camera out for that one, but we have lots of video! It was really fun. Then we went and picked up another private who's wife and parents had to leave early and he spent the rest of the time with us. We all went to dinner (at golden corral, twice in one week...I'm tired of steak) and then we helped them get their laptops going and then had to run them back to base. They barely made it on time.
He flew out to Chicago (they had to circle the hurricane) and then to Fort Lee. Sigh. It was almost harder having to say good bye to him this time. I've been more emotional now than I was then. Someone else commented that it's almost a tease...here he is, but you don't get to keep him. sigh.
I have a good friend who has two sons that have gone through this and are getting ready to ship out on active duty. I don't know how she's held herself together, and I know she's going to need more emotional support when they go...man do I understand a little more now.
But I'm still proud of him.
Now we bide our time till about Thanksgiving...then we get him till his mission!! sigh. I'm wondering how I'll react to that now...
5 comments:
What a handsome young man you have there! Congrats on his completion and good luck with all that comes next.
God bless you and your soldier. May the Lord keep him safe and happy. =)
I was lucky to get my boys for 10 days inbetween boot camp and SOI. And yes, they are told not to smile- a service man never shows emotion while in uniform. It is supposed to make those of us they are protecting feel safe- if they aren't scared then why should we be. And it makes those they are fighting scared- if the service men are so confident, the bad guys should be scared.
It is really not so hard, this letting them go. I only cry when I think about it;)
How awesome - and how blessed we are to have young men like him serving our country and protecting our freedoms.
I don't have your e-mail address handy but you can e-mail me at tristi AT tristipinkston.com
My father was in Vietnam and Korea and my husband was in the Army Reserves during the Gulf War. He didn't have to go though. I would be so proud and so worried if either of my sons joined up. You have every right to be proud! Our prayers are with these guys!
Post a Comment