Today, October 26, 2008, my youngest son, my baby will leave for Marine Boot Camp and I am soooo very sad but also very very proud of him.
This is so very hard for me to know that your child is leaving the nest for good, and placing himself in harms way for a cause. I can only pray that he keeps himself safe.
We need to bring him to the recruiting office this morning around 10 AM and he will head out for New Orleans around 12. He will spend the rest of the day in New Orleans today and then board a plane for Parris Island, South Carolina in the Morning. Thirteen weeks without any phone calls from my son is going to be tough and worse than that will be the quiet in this house.
Matt has been the epitome of perpetual motion. From the moment he opened his eyes to the moment he closed them each day, he was non-stop action. When I fall asleep each night it is to the rhymthic chant of "Momma, Momma, Momma" He has always been so inquisitive about everything and wanted to share his entire world with me. "Momma come see" "Momma come play with me", "Momma why..." Boy I'm going to miss those words.
Here are a few pictures of him as he is today. That mop of hair will be gone this morning before he leaves for the recruiting office, then will be even goner once he reaches his final destination.
This is from a photo shoot he did this summer for a local photographer. Some of these pictures are now part of thier advertising materials.
Above is a shot of him on his 18th Birthday which was in August. He turned 18 on the 18th, which was a Monday, and by that Friday, August 22nd, he had sworn in as a Marine Recruit.
This final picture of of Matt and his Marine Buddy Kenny. They joined as buddies and will hopefully spend all of boot camp as buddies. They will be bunk mates and pretty much do everything as a team. Hopefully they can remain together throughout the next 13 weeks. See that long piece of hair haning on the left of Matt's head, I will have the pleasure of buzzing that off later this morning. Not sure if you can see, but Kenny has piercing in his lower lip. I think they are called "snake bites" well that too will be gone by 10:00 am today. Kenny buzzed his hair a few weeks ago, said he needed the time to adjust.
Anyway, I wish both of these young men the Best of Luck in this new chapter of their lives and hope and pray they remain safe for the next 4 years.
I love you Matt
2 comments:
I went through this with my son about 5 years ago. It was tough, tough, tough! Today, I see a whole new man in my son. He has really grown up, and so confidant, strong, yet sensitive and a great husband and Dad to 2 kids. The Army changed him for the better, and it is something that will remain with him the rest of his life. Hey...when your son leaves...I know what you can do...work on your cards, and blog more!!! Anything to keep your brian busy!. I remember walking around with my daughetr in law crying the whole week. We stayed busy though and walked the mall many times crying and trying to keep our brains occupied!!! It is important to get exercise, rest, and have spiritual strength! I think it will be harder for you than it was for me, cause I still had my daugher home. I wish you the best during this hard time. I will say prayers for you and your son. I will share with you that my daily prayer for my son is that he will be kept in a SAFE place...wherever he is located in the world. So far he has, thank God.
Hugs.... and always here if you want to e-mail me or talk.
Julie
All Mothers Unite!
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