Anyone with a daughter leaving for bootcamp on September 28 in CA? Or anywhere else?

[Diana(PO3/IT3)]

Hi all, I was just wondering if there is anyone in this discussion group with a daughter leaving for BC the end of this month.

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Hi Janie,

Can't wait to here the words "Liberty Call" next Friday.  I need tell Olivia "Do your best, and go make history!" As I would explain to her a female in the military has more to prove than a male, so kick butt and make history!".  Love it!

Lisa

[Anna]

Diana,

Sorry I didn't get to respond to your post earlier.  I'm so glad you had that special time with Aubrey.  We are so proud of our girls but it is so hard to sit back and watch them leave.  One of my daughter's is a brand new veteran now.  She just got out a little over a week ago.  But she's married and still living in WA with her husband.  I miss those special times we shared - ours was afternoon tea!!!  And since I worked in the schools when her and her sister were still in high school, we used to spend every spring break staying up until the wee hours of the morning watching movies and sharing special snacks!!!!  I will always remember those days fondly!!!

Janie mentioned about the difference between a son and daughter leaving.  My first son left for college and several years later my second son left for the Navy.  It was much harder when the sailor son left because I knew he wouldn't be coming home during the summer break or for the holidays.  But it was SO MUCH HARDER when the first daughter left for the Navy.  I just missed her so much more - - and I really missed my son when he left.  So you sure don't have to worry about your feelings being misunderstood!!!!   These other moms are so correct - - go ahead and let your sadness out.  Cry when you have to.  It helps to let it out.  And you can always share here because we KNOW!!!!!

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Diana, we can cry together.  My blackberry has been on the fritz today and one of the problems I had was with voice mail.  I had a very special message saved from Olivia that she left me while at the airport waiting to fly out.  It helped listening to it and now its lost cause Verizon had to wipe out all my messages and reset voice mail.  I can't believe I'm crying so hard.  it was my link to her hearing her voice on the message.  :-(  Lisa

[Anna]

Oh Lisa,

I'm so sorry you lost your voice mail message.  I still have voice mails on my phone from two years ago!!!!  (And I thought I was the only one who saved things like that!!!)

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Hi Anna, that made me laugh -- you are 'not the only one that saves' voice mail.    :-)  Lisa

[Diana(PO3/IT3)]

Lisa - oh my! That is heart breaking. And yes, I save voicemails AND text messages.....  I missed Aubrey's "I'm HERE!" phone call!!  My son was home and he got to talk with her which was great for both of them. He said she sounded "ok" and she said it was crazy busy around there. She would call us again in about 3 weeks. I had gone up the canyon to see Gillian Welch play an outdoor concert with friends. I found I was just not in the mood to be there so I left at intermission. When I came out of the canyon (no Verizon signal back up there), I had a text message from Aubrey (10:30pm Chicago time) simply saying: "Love ya!!!"  So....it's okay. I got to see her off at o'dark thirty. I got to spend the last 2 nights with her at the hotel and MEPS. I got to talk with her once she landed. I know there will be rough spots when I'm doing something we used to do or I'm just needing some mommy/daughter time (which always heals what's eating at me....). 

 

I'm feeling very distant and detached from the people I normally hang out with. In fact, they are royally annoying me. That is so not me. Is that normal? I feel like becoming a hermit.....

 

Lisa, I hope you get some fresh voicemails from Olivia. I'll even hope harder that, somehow, you can retrieve some of those lost - it's a though anyway :-/

 

Anna - daughters are SO special. I love my sons dearly and we have our own relationship but they just don't get 'it/me' like my daughter does. And tonight, sitting at that concert with the people I've usually enjoying hanging with just made me realize all that that much more.

 

I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself like this. I'm not the one running around, getting yelled at, and going to be up and at 'em the next 24 or so hours!

*sigh* Tomorrow is a fresh day. I'm going to write Aubrey a note and get some sleep.

 

Hugs, hugs, and more hugs to you all,

d~

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Hi Diana,

I get the feeling of detachment and wanting to become a hermit.  I'm still digging out of that hole.  When Olivia first left I would be in the city amongst thousands of people and feel as if I were standing still and everything around me was circling around at high speed.  Weird I know but I don't know how  else to describe it.  I have 3 daughters and Olivia is my youngest.  So its been hard letting go of all my girls.  I long for the days when we would go to the beach, lay down in the backyard on a puffy cloud day and name the animal from cloud shapes.  Like Anna mentioned, its different from a child going off to college.  College kids can come home for a week end if they want.  Sailors have to get permission to leave if they are flying.  I'm planning a trip to Pensacola as soon as possible for Olivia to have a weekend leave.   Our daughters will be going through a lot of changes from boot camp.  Perhaps we, as moms, fear the change.  I've thought about how I'll feel in a week when I finally get to see my baby girl all grown up and in her uniform.  How the hug will feel, how and if her hug back will be different.  If calling her my "shrimp toast" will still be OK with her (she is about 3" shorter than me).  When my oldest was a baby (and colicky)  a wise older friend said to me, "Lisa, these are long days but short years, they go by fast, enjoy them, the good and the bad".  Those words stuck with me for 23 years now.  Wow.  Anyway, I'm rambling.  I'm so looking forward to meeting you when Aubrey graduates.  I'd be honored to take you to some of Chicago's non-tourist places that are pretty cool.  If you decide to come in a few days sooner we can meet up then.  Let me know.  My best.  Lisa

[Janie (Ship11~Div.59 Alumni)]

Lisa you are so true when you said long days/short years. My husband and I hardly ever went out with friends when the kids were small. The only time we went out without them was either a wedding or formal affairs for work. My reasoning was that I knew they would not be small long so I wanted to enjoy every minute I could with them. Its just this past year that we started going out with friends and Jess is 19 and in the NAVY and Alex is 15 and a sophomore in high school. I would give anything to go back to their younger childhood days and do them again. But........thats not how life is. So now its looking to the future and watching them grow into productive, successful and happy adults.

 

Diana and Lisa your feeling of detachement are so natural. Diana don't feel bad and yes your friends don't understand unless they served or have a love one that does. I have a lot of people at work that have so they always ask how Jess is doing. It is so great when we can brag about our kids isn't it?

 

So speaking of bragging, lol My daughter emailed me this morning at 3:30am (EST) and gave me the dates of her leave. She will be coming home the beginning of November before she deploys for six months. HOOYAH! But what she told me in her email has given me bragging rights, and it goes along with what I've been saying about our females having to prove themselves more than the males. She told me there was a breakdown of some apparatus that two different men could not fix, so her chief sent her to look at it. Well five minutes later it was up and running! She went, figured it out right away and fixed it within seconds/minutes. She received accolades from everyone, so yeah boys-step aside and let my girl in! HOOYAH GIRLS!

 

Are you girls on facebook? If you are and would love to connect with a few other NAVY MOMS (my navy sisters) and have the support of a great bunch of ladies that are truly helpful, I would be more than happy to befriend you and invite you to our private little fb page. This page has been great and we rarely go onto N4M's anymore. Its also great because we have more freedom to talk then you would on here. One thing you have to remember now is that "Loose lips sinks Ships" therefore you won't be given too much info. from your future sailor and some of the info. that you are given you can not forward to others due to privacy and safety of our Sailors.

 

Its been very nice of you to accept me into your conversations and I hope that I have helped in your future information on your recruit. I would love to experience your future Sailors accomplishments with you, its so exciting to hear all about all our NAVY KIDS.

Diana I feel for you at this point and time for I will never forget those bc days and all the emotions you will go through. Lisa you were so right in your comparison of college to military. I had to say it to several of my friends who's children who are in college and couldn't quite understand the life of my daughter not being able to call anytime, etc..I used to have to remind others all the time that at least your college student can call home or come home any weekend anytime, my daughter doesn't have that luxury. Even now that she is out to sea, the only communication we have is her military email. They do have computers and internet while out to sea but no cell. Even when she is docked into ports she can't call on her cell unless she gets off the ship or up on the open flight deck. Before she left for her service out in Washington I did set us up for skyppe voice to voice so when she does dock in other countries we can talk for free, otherwise your cell phone service will get you for roaming charges and such.

Well enough of my chatting, I am sorry if I bored you. lol MOMS-stay strong, you'll get through this, not easy I know but with the support of all of us here that understand you'll go along with greater ease from your Navy family.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Again if you want to connect on fb. email me and I'll give you my full name so you can find me. Also one of you may want to start a page here with your PIR date so that anybody that is on here in the same graduating class can connect together and when you do have your PIR weekend you can set up your Meet & Greet that is usually held at the Ramada Inn with the other families.

Stay in touch!

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Hi Janie,

I tried to send you a private message on N4M but you have not yet accepts my friend request.  I'd like to FB friend you as well.  Please accept my N4M friend request so that we can also be FB friends.

GO NAVY!

Lisa

[Diana(PO3/IT3)]

Me too Janie and Lisa. I have a FB account as well.

 

Did you know there is a FB group from the training center? They post pics of divisions and activities. You may be able to see your child! Here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/NavyRecruitTrainingCommand.

 

Also, I JUST got a call from Aubrey!!!!!!!!!!! She needs me to fax some info to her and was guarded and quick with her message. She could only say "good" when I asked how she was and how it was going and then "Well, I gotta go."  As least I got to hear her voice............... :-) Oh, I did find out she is Div 007. She didn't know the ship number yet though.

[Lisa (Olivia Div 09-Ship 331)]

Yeah!

 

[Diana(PO3/IT3)]

And you will appreciate this: She left a brief message on the home phone before catching me on my cell. I've listened to it a dozen times since I got home......