Yesterday was one of my proudest moments to this date.. My daughter left for Great Lakes. I was there for the final swearing in and was able to spend pretty much the whole day with her untill her flight took her away. I must thank the volunteers with the USO for making my day much more enjoyable. They made me feel even more proud of my daughter than I already was.. Just a simple "Thank You for serving our country" kinda hit home. And put it all in perspective. I have not flown commercialy since 9/11 but have heard about all the changes, and assumed that I would be pretty much leaving my daughter at the door, and going back to the car and waiting for her call. I am pleased to say that, that is not at all how it happened.. Long story short, The Gentlemen with the USO were able to get my wife and I passes so we could sit with her at the boarding gate, just like the old days... This gave us nearly 2 more hours to spend with her before she left. Shortly after her plane pulled away from the gate, there was a lady there who started asking questions as to why we were there and not on the plane and such.. My wife and I proceeded to explain that our daughter just left for boot camp. She then started asking more questions as to how it all came to be that she wanted to join the Navy. And as we told the story, it kinda made me think about the past few months in a different way. And when this lady thanked us for being supportive, and told us to be sure and thank her for serving our country, I once again got that sense of pride that I think only a parent can have.
The phone call was short and sweet just as I expected. but it was nice to hear her voice and to know that all was well. She left me a list of things to do after she left, ie. suspend cell phone plan untill she has access to her phone again, let her friends and family know her address when I get it,,, just things like that.. She also said that I should be getting a phone call from her in about 3 weeks.. I will have to say I am going to be looking forward to that day...
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We drove up the 815 miles from Oklahoma to Great Lakes. After 8 long weeks and several letters later we finally got to see the New and Improved Trevor. He had lost 30 pounds and gained a whole new confidence (not that he was lacking any at all). As we set in the drill hall waiting for the recruits to arrive, some of the members of the group 940 (the members that volunteered for the band) started trickling in. About halfway through the group was Trevor. Again the emotions went rampant again. Respect, tears, proud, love on and onand on.
In short Laron you have a wonderful daughter that is going to make you so much more proud of her and what she has decided to do that you can't imagine. Tell her in your letters that all of us here at Navydads are pulling for her and are awaiting that post boot blog.
I was in town the other day in line to get my wife and I some food at the movie theater. I was wearing my navydads.com t-shirt and had an older gentlan come over and ask me what my shirt said. I told him that it was a shirt that I had gotten off of one of the websites that i go to in support of my son that is in the U.S. Navy. We talked for a few minutesabout how he was retired Navy and some of his experiences while in the Navy. When I got to the front of the line and ordered our large popcorn and large drink. The gentleman put some money up on the counter and told the kid waiting on me that he was paying for what I had ordered. I told him thank you but no thank you sir. I should be the one paying for your refreshments. He told me son I spent my time in the greatest Navy in the world and want to do this for you for your son serving inn the Navy and for you for being the parent that would raise someone that wants to serve their country as I did. honor him and respect him for all that he does and maybe someday you will be able to pass along this to someone that you come across some day. Laron you and your family have started a wonderful journey with Corinne enjoy every minute of it and take it all in. As paul and Jim said there are lots of people out there that will pay you respect just for what your daughter has decided to do and you can only cherish this and pass it along to Corinne. Bravo Zulu to you and your family Laron
You'll soon get the infamous "sailor in a box"...most of the moms have an issue with that and shed a few tears! Soon after the form letter.....wait a day or three and your recruiter should be able to give you her ship number and division number....we have links in the bootcamp group to current addresses to use for mail....start your letters....realize you won't hear anything for awhile...get used to it as no news is good news right now. As always....tons of support available here....many of us have traveled this road and if you have questions or concerns ...post away!!