Well, I met with my son’s recruiter yesterday. The meeting could not have gone any worse.

My son told me at dinner on Sunday night he was going to “talk” to a recruiter. Now, I knew that my son had his mind made up to become a Marine and had for a while. I knew he had reached his decision after a great deal of thought, and research.

The recruiter was explaining what happened next. I was prepared for weeks to a month or more of tests, exams, fitness tests, etc… But oh no!

The recruiter said if my son passed his physicals on Sunday he would enlist on MONDAY!

That hit me like a ton of bricks.

I mean who talks to a recruiter on Tuesday and signs their enlistment papers on MONDAY???

Seriously??

I was not prepared for that. I remember when I joined. I talked to a recruiter in June, signed the following February, and then went to basic training in May.

I became angry, and told the recruiter that this was moving too fast, it was not fair to my son, and that this process needed to slow way down.

I guess I was angry, sad, frustrated, scared, all rolled into one.

I told the recruiter that my son and I would discuss this and I showed him out.

My son then told me that he had his mind made up for a long time and that he was ready to join.

I asked him why he was in such a hurry to put himself in harm’s way. He said he had been ready to do this for so long and he was tired of putting it off.

I am upset because I cannot be there for his enlistment ceremony, I am upset because I am losing my baby, I am upset because my son is going off to a dangerous place and I can’t protect him, I am upset because…………well I think you get the point.

I have been crying off and on now for 24 hours.

I am alone? Is it this hard to let your son go off to war? Yes, I did the same thing when my oldest enlisted, but it seems SO much harder this time. This is my youngest, my baby.

The child who was never afraid to crawl up in my lap even when he was too old to do so. He has always been my support system, always ready to make me laugh, always my happy child.

I will miss him terribly!!!!

Maybe I am being selfish, and I don’t mean to be. This is just so very hard.

I love my son so much. If you have ever been a military parent I think you know what I am going through.

By Monday my son will be a Marine. For that I am so very proud of him. Please help me pray for him as he begins a new journey in life, and pray for me that I have the strength to survive this, again.

Semper Fi

thegeekwife