Proud of my Soldier

On June 27, our son graduated from Basic Training in the National Guard. We got to spend 2 days with him. The day before graduation is Family Day. There was a demonstration, and then the batallion marched onto the field, through a wall of smoke. Boy, was it a thrill to see the colors coming through the smoke, and then to see the soldiers - approx. 900 of them!! When we were allowed to stream onto the field to get our soldier, it took us a while because there were so many people there. But, sad to say, there were some soldiers whose families were not able to be there. My heart hurt for those young men and women.

We enjoyed our day on the base with our son. He wasn't allowed to leave the base on Family Day, but it was good just to be with him. He enjoyed his first sub in 10 weeks.

The next day was graduation. At the end of it, the batallion does a pass review. That was just really something to see. All of those soldiers marching in step together...and my son amongst them. Wow.

He got an off base pass for the night and was able to come back to our hotel with us. Another day and and evening with him - we truly were grateful. He had to be back by 5:00 a.m., so we dropped him off and said good-bye. His hello hug the day before and his good-bye hug that morning were pretty strong ones! He flew out that day for continued training. Should be home in time for Thanksgiving.

I miss my boy. And now he is gone - my boy has become a man. My prayer for him is that he will put God first in his life, and allow God to lead in the direction He wants him to go. And that he will be the best soldier he can be. Goodness, but I'm proud of him.

My Soldier