At long last my little one has come home for leave. She got in late last night so this might start rambling thanks to my two whole hours of sleep.
By way of some small miracle she managed to get through both basic training and her AIT training. She is officially a combat medic. I admire and respect her determination and strength getting through the past 7 month’s hurdles. And her 5′1, 105 pound frame really showed itself capable of handling more than its weight in activity.
So now both of my children are in the military. The little one in the Army and my son in the Air Force. People remark that my children are so patriotic (me, I think “Those DUMMIES” – we’re at war) but that’s just a mother who would like to see her children safe. But my mind wanders to the fact that right now, somewhere in Brooklyn, there’s a tiny little soldier who is trying (kind of) to recruit.
For now, she’s safe and I can breathe a little. She managed to get through a near miss article fifteen, a two mile run that she thought she’d never crack, a seargant who was more than a little rough on her and the same things all of the enlistees must go through to be “all that they can be.” And because of all that is really her, she made it. For now, I breathe, until she is moved to her next base and gets her orders. I was forewarned of an impending deployment – so for the next twenty days I want to see her live it up as much as she can – safely. I hope to spend as much time as her small entourage of friends will allow, and get the chance to show her that all that she can be was all she has always been – and neither myself, her family, friend nor the army did that – they only benefited from it.
Recent Comments