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Comment by CeliaSews on November 9, 2011 at 11:41am

Betsy - it was a little bit of a let down.  Thought he would be able to come home. What are the chances of him getting leave and being able to travel to NJ right after arriving there?  Pretty slim, I think.  And, that airfare will cost a bundle last minute!!  My fear is that if he doesn't get leave then, he won't be home for a very long time. I understand they really don't get leave while they are in A School, and he will be there for at least a year.

Comment by Jajajo on November 9, 2011 at 11:39am

Okay ladies fingers crossed :). Loved ones from the PIR 12/29 started receiving letters today :)

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on November 9, 2011 at 11:07am

Wow, that's definitely a different scenario from last year.  

Comment by CeliaSews on November 9, 2011 at 10:29am

Good morning, everyone!  I just posed the question about leave between BC and A school for our 12/16 graduates on the RTC Facebook page.  The RTC replied that our SR's will have to report to A school and request leave from there for Christmas.

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on November 9, 2011 at 10:22am

allison, yes this site is so wonderful, but unfortunately I am also amazed at how many moms have never found this site.  

I was talking to a woman on the phone whose son had been in the Navy for 8 years, who never even knew about this site.  I was booking my daughter and her fiance (he's in the Navy) a birthday weekend vacation at a Disney resort at the time and she was the customer service representative for Disney.  She was so happy to talk to me, just because I was another Navy mom and we ended up talking for about 20 minutes, just about our sons being in the Navy.   She was so excited to talk to me, since I had a son and also a future son in law in the Navy.  :)   She told me that in all the years that her son had been in the Navy, she had never even met another mom of a sailor.  :(  It was funny too, because the only reason that we even got on that subject was because I realized that I had to call her back because the weekend that I tried to book was full and I had to check my daughter's fiance's "duty schedule" to see when he was available to go.  She then asked me if he was in the Navy because she knew that term.  :)  I ended up calling back hours later to book their weekend and when I did I actually got the same woman on the phone again.  :)  It is almost impossible to talk to the same person twice when you book a Disney vacation took, since they have hundreds of customer service representatives, so she said we were meant to talk to each other.  I told her about this site and she joined Navy4Moms after our conversation She even messaged me to thank me for telling her about it.  :)  And, it all started because I was booking a birthday vacation for my daughter and her sailor.  

 

Comment by allison (ship 11 div 018) on November 9, 2011 at 9:39am

FireTeamLeaderWife - loved reading your post, it summed up what I think most of us feel.  N4M's has been a life saver.  It helps so much to connect with other mom's and to learn from all of yours experience.  Knowledge is power as they say, and we all have gained so much knowledge from this site and from the veteran moms.  Thank you so much for your time and support, it is extremely apprectiated!!

 

Comment by Jajajo on November 9, 2011 at 9:38am

Yes definitely hoping for some letters :)

Comment by New2Navy(Class 1205) on November 9, 2011 at 9:32am

Good Morning Navy Family!  FTLW - that was amazing!! Thanks for sharing and thank you for all you do!! I am a single mom and don't have any military experience and this website has been a lifeline!  So thanks to everyone for the support and the time it takes!! I hope to pay it back someday!

Comment by diannep on November 9, 2011 at 9:04am

Good morning, everyone.  Hoping for some letters in those mailboxes for you all today...and maybe some phone calls???? 

Comment by FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW on November 9, 2011 at 3:09am

So here goes...

This is my first time being on any kind of a site like this. I don't FB, Twitter...etc. I was very apprehensive about posting ANYTHING. I would post...felt like I had "spilled the beans" and delete the post! Now you can't shut me up...though OPSEC is a biggee for me.

I'm married to a "Command Man". Law Enforcement for 29 years and AF Reserves for 27...two deployments...the most recent just this last year. He was activated last November and was "in country" (Iraq) by New Year’s Eve. We almost didn't have Christmas together...had it early just in case...but was blessed with that.

Our son was going to be enlisting in the Navy...had to finish getting his braces off. He did about the time hubby left. We figured okay, he'll be on DEP for a while. HA...he enlisted and was off to Boot three weeks later! This was the end of March. So, my household shrunk and I was sending letters, cards and packages off to hubby and letters to recruit son! Our second son was going to be graduating from HS too.

I found N4M's on the Navy Reserves website. I joined but was so busy that I didn't get on much. But once he was slated to leave I tried to get on as much as I could. How I WISH that I had known more and known about Craig's NavyDEP site. It would have prepared our son so much more. The poor Recruiters felt bad because they had no time to prep him! One of them did give me a brochure with a magnet for N4M's...but I was already on the site. It's good to know they promote it though!

So I didn't join a DEP group...went to New Moms and then Boot Camp and then PIR group. This site and the veterans...ladies that I am privileged to "work" with now...got me through it all. I don't travel by air often…fifteen years ago…and my sons had never been on an airplane. Had a holiday PIR and if I hadn't taken the advice of the vets to stay longer in case my sons Liberty changed, I would have lost two precious days with him.

This site and these "moms" that are on here dedicate themselves of their own time and souls to help others and have community. As you  are all discovering NO ONE understands you like we and other military families you meet. As a reservist wife (and mom-son is a reservist), I don't live on base and so there isn't any community to go to easily. Support is so important...we need it so that we are able to support our loved ones. If not for this site and some wonderful Church friends and my beloved neighbors, I would have felt so lost.

The support I received helped me to be able to support my hubby while he was so far away and help make our marriage stronger. I was able to get through those eight weeks of up and down phone calls from my son...no letters from him, (he is NOT a writer...struggled a LOT and got the crud and pneumonia - still my emotions were raw and it was very hard. He did finally write and the first line was ..."Now that I have something good to write about..."), anxiety about travel and just plain being pooped… because of this site and my PIR group.

I learned...no, felt it deep in my heart...that bond with others that were going through this, NEED the support so desperately. It is such a different way of life and many have no military personnel in their families.

So here I am...I am probably on here WAY more than I should be...but then again...how can I not?

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