Last week, I decided on a whim, to drive to Camp Pendleton, CA and spend a weekend of Liberty, and then graduation, with my son, David. He was graduating from MCT at Camp Pendleton, before moving onto his MOS at 29 Palms, CA. We packed up Xander, and Johanna and I drove 17 hours with a GPS unit. "Tim" guided us all the way there and back.
It was so wonderful to see David. He had lost more weight, with all the training, and was a bit more grown up. He and I share a birthday, and today, he is 21 years old. I looked at the Marines graduating on Tuesday and was again amazed. Our freedom, everything we hold dear, is in the hands of these boys. Ok, men... I talked to a few of them and resisted the urge to mother them all. Other mother's sons! I love them all.
David had to have a buddy to leave camp on liberty and so Ryan Young joined us. His mother, Heather, is also South African. Ryan was a sweetheart. We had lots of fun and the boys compared notes on being raised by South African mothers, lots of kicked rear ends...lol.
On Tuesday, after graduation, we put our sons on their buses, to the airport, 29 Palms etc. It was sad, heartbreaking to watch them leave again. But so proud of our young men and what they had accomplished. David graduated Squad Leader. Good job, my son. Semper Fidelis! OORAH!!!
1 comments:
What a great experience. I'm sure David was so happy to see you and have you there. Jeff has told me a few times that were situations he was in that having a family member there for would have been nice.
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