DEP-Leavin' for bootcamp in May

My son leaves 5/8, his brother left on 4/3.  I'm hoping this is going to be easier second time around...  At least I'm more prepared!  It helps that he is so excited!

My oldest son will be leaving for bootcamp May 1 as well.   My first one to leave the nest ... this is definitely not easy, but I am so very proud of his decision.

Cindy....we are in the same boat! Less than a week to go and my family's dynamics will be forever changed! Ugh! Like you though, I am super proud of Christopher and excited about this new chapter in his life! They will probably be in the same group at boot camp. What is your son's name?

My son leaves on May 1st also. I will be taking him to his recruiters office on the 30th and they take him to Phoenix to leave the next day.  He told me that I can go see him on Monday as he will have free time until 8pm.  The next morning my husband, me and my parents are heading back up to see the swearing in and then he is off.  I took a couple days off work so I can deal with this.  He is our one and only.  AliciaG & Cindy, it sounds like our sons will be together.  My son is named Christopher too. 

My son, Dillon, heads to Ft Ben (Indpls) Tuesday and ships out on Wednesday, May 2nd.  Perhaps he will be on the same "ship" with your 2 Chistophers heading out on the 1st?

We will be empty-nesters when he leaves.  I am so very proud of him, and he is so very excited, but I am numb and trying to keep the smile on my face while putting one foot in front of the other.  :)   I'm sure all N4M moms feel this way.  I hope to meet you all in the PIR group!

My daughter leaves on May 14th, I am SOOOO not ready for this!

Twinsmom, my boyfriend leaves May 8th as well!

Hi Ashley!! That's great--I haven't seen many others for the 8th!  It's coming up fast!  What will your bf be doing?  My sons are both going to be nukes...

@Twinzplus1--wow, we are really in the same boat!  How is it going so far?  Good luck with your son leaving this week!  Is your "plus one" older or younger than the twins?  My son is very excited-8 day countdown...  I'm soon to be an empty-nester and not looking forward to that part!

I can't believe my hubby is leaving in less than 8 days... May 8th is coming fast!! We had his going away party this last weekend. It was a beautiful sunny day in Southern Califronia. Over 60 people to entertain is exhausting! Did anyone experience this? I almost got sick of all the questions... where is boot camp? how long is it? Where does he go after that? Will you get to see him? the list goes on and on. I swear I could probably write a book about the enlistment process. lol Now it is time to cram in as much fun stuff as possible in the next 8 days. Angels baseball game tonight, Disneyland tomorrow night and then we will see from there! Good luck to everyone who is going thru "the process". I still don't know how I am going to feel once he is on that air plane. I think I am in for a BIG adjustment the first few days he will be gone.

@Twinsmom - my son who is leaving May 29 is an identical twin except that joining the military is the LAST thing his brother would do!  I have 2 others besides the twins and the twins are my youngest.  My sailor is the last to leave home. 

Well, step one is done.  I dropped him off at the recruiters office at noon.  He is on his way to Phoenix for the night.  Tomorrow morning at 9am is the swearing in and then his is off.  We are heading up today to have dinner and then back up in the morning.  The worst part of this is that he got sick yesterday and I was worried.  He seemed better today.  No crying today, so far, but tomorrow will be difficult.  We are taking my parents up for tomorrow also, so it should be an interesting day.  Good Luck to everyone!

Reply to Mrobinson----OK, Just reading your comment made me burst into tears! Wow! This is really hard...who would have thought after almost 19 years I still wouldn't be ready to let him go! Our drop off day is Wednesday at the hotel in Tampa, then the swearing in ceremony is Thursday morning at MEPS and then...he is off. We may need to lean on each other here! I am getting worse as the hours slip by....Hang in there! You know they are so excited!

My daughter leaves May 29th for Bootcamp as a Gunner's Mate. Any parents out there with the same ship date?

My son is leaving May 15

@Twinzplus1-my other son left on 4/3, he is half way through.  Good luck with your son leaving this week!  Any idea if your youngest will follow in his brothers footsteps?

@harleygirl-I have 2 others also, twin girls, 27 yrs old.  We could almost start a twins group here!  :) 

To Mrobinson---How was the swearing in? I bet you were SO PROUD! Hang in there...I am thinking about you and sending my support.I really look forward to meeting you up at Great Lakes.

I did not see this group before, but my son was in DEP due to leave in May and I just got home from putting him on the bus in Harrisburg PA...Woo Hoo!!!  I'm thrilled for him.  You see, I did the same thing myself 35 years ago(Air Force) and it was the best thing I ever did for myself. 

My

Sailor

Son

Christopher

My son is leaving on May 21st from Dallas, TX. We are taking a 5 day trip to NYC to celebrate his 19th birthday from May 10th - May 14th. My emotions keep switching from happy to sad, but always proud! Glad to know everyone is having the same feelings!

Did anybody else have somebody leave yesterday? My soon to be husband went, it was a very emotional, but getting to see him swear in was really nice. It wasn't until I got the nervous I am safe call at 12 am that I finally settled down and was able to even try to eat something. 

Hi Shannon,  My son left yesterday.  We got our call at about 9pm our time.  I agree it was a very emotional day.  My husband & I did the same thing.  After we got our call, we were able to sleep.  It was amazing to see him sworn in.  We were lucky to get a call from the airport and the I am safe call from RTC.  Hang in there, I personally think that the hardest part is done.  The actual goodbye tears at your heart and mind.  I can distract myself and surround myself with things for the next 2 months.  And I think coming here and helping others through it is good for your soul.  Good Luck!!

Hi AliciaG,  I love the picture of you and your son!!  My son is Christopher also.  Hope things are going ok for you. The I am safe call is quite a relief when you get it.  Some one told me this:  What the catapiller sees as the end, the butterfly sees as the beginning.  Its all good now, so keep smiling!!

I agree Mrobinson this site has been a lot of help, and really Monday and Tuesday were really hard but it is getting a lot easier. I have so much finishing up to do so I can get the rest of his stuff to storage because I am selling my home so we can get married once he gets to A School. While it's not ideal we have been together almost 5 years and from what I hear being on the final moving orders is very important. 

It's funny because my sister, who lives with Tim and me, has really stepped up and helped me out. She offered to pack boxes and cook dinner, but I know the boxes will have to wait because Tim really did do as much as he could before he left, and I still need to live here until he is done with A School. 

It really is nice to have a place to talk about our recruit while they are away. 

Shannon, Congratulations!! You have so much to look forward to.  Marrying a sailor and a new home! At least where ever you go, you will be together.  Your sister sounds special, especially to help you out like that.  She will be good company while he is gone.  Take Care.

I have to agree Twinz it was so amazing to see them sworn in. We found out so last minute about it, but it was worth the swapping of shifts with me co workers to see it. I am just two days in but I can already see a light at the end of the tunnel. It's a little dimmer than I would hope but it's there. 

Yesterday was an amazing day!  We watched our beautiful daughter Sarah swear in to the US NAVY!  It was so exciting to be at MEPS to

 witness her focus, dedication, and excitement.  Her day was long, filled with a lot of sitting and waiting, but I'm sure that's all changed today!  We received "The phone call" at 11:45pm last night that she had arrived at RTC.  Thanks to the fantastic Recruiting Staff, she has been mentally and physically preparing for months and she's now on her way to an honorable and exciting career. We couldn't be more proud of this commitment she has made.  

Our very best wishes to all Military Personnel and Military Families out there!

Hi Ladies---Finally logging in to say my son, Christopher, left yesterday also. I just couldn't seem to do much of anything after coming home from seeing him off at the airport in Tampa other than lay on his bed and watch movies of his childhood in my head. Walking through the front door knowing he would never technically live there again was such a sad moment for me. His 8 year old brother, Jacob, went with us to MEPS and was there for his swearing in ceremony. He said, "Mommy, I am so proud, but still kind of sad." Boy, don't we ALL know that feeling! I received the 8 second, "Mom I'm Here" call at 2:42 in the morning. I can only imagine that they must be going on adrenaline at that point! So...do we all now join the "Boot Camp" page? I feel like I have made friends here (especially MRobinson!). Are we all officially moving on to the next step? Day 2---officially underway! :)

Hi Jo Ann - that would be great if our daughter's were in the same group, we should know soon!   Small world.....we were in Ft. Lauderdale recently, checked out Miami too since we'd never been there, it's SO nice!  I wish we could grow Palm Trees in New England, ha!  We live in NH, but Sarah went thru MEPS in Portland, ME.  Hope you're doing well, I'm sure our girls are doing great!

When you are seeing your SR off at the airport are you able to get a visitors pass and wait with him/her at the gate? or is is just in the ticket counter/check in area?

Hi AliciaG- Congratuations!!! You did it!!  I am 4 days in and it does get better.  Everyone at my work was checking on me the first day back.  Lots of stories to distract me and very busy to keep my mind off the emptyness I feel sometimes.  I have joined  the Boot Camp page but I will keep checking in here too. 

Day four and I got the damned box today. I had been doing so well to, maybe a little on the rough side but so so so much better. The box did have a great and sweet note on the inside, it was exactly what I needed. I love Tim and I miss tons but really after this it's all downhill. Letters will start coming soon and since we're almost a full week in PIR in 7 weeks, it can only get better. I do miss Tim a lot though, but now I get to look forward to letters and that is so much cooler than the box! 

AliciaG>> I know exactly how you feel.  I joined the BootCamp group, but have been too numb to be considered active there. :/   I do feel a bit better today.  Bootcamp moms are exactly where we are or have been where we are; just a matter of days to weeks ahead.  They seem to be a warm, welcoming group and a wealth of info.  I look forward to chatting with you and sharing information.  I'm hoping our young men will be in the same division.  I can't wait until they are actually on THEIR day number 1, so we can count something other than how many days they've been gone! I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping they begin by Monday or Tuesday.  Some of the mid-April recruits were in a processing hold for 10+days before they began. Yeesh!  Yes, I am a bit impatient.  LOL

We have a FB group for SRs leaving in May, after all the kids leave, we parents have kind of decided it may be our support group...https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/310444012301632/

Hi everyone, I am Lora aka Lala. I have been on this site since before my daughter left for bootcamp May 25, 2010. After PIR I came back here to help answer questions on the PIR group pages. I can't believe how quickly these two years have gone by. Once your recruit leaves for bootcamp please find your PIR group page on this site. You will be able to meet other members who have recruits with the same PIR date and in the same division. They will understand better than anyone what you are going through because they are experiencing it as well. There are several of us on those pages who answer any questions that are posted and we have tons of great information for you. I look forward to seeing you there. feel free to send me a friend request on this site or an email to uniquememorymakers@yahoo.com

Off to spend the day with our son as he reports to MEPS tomorrow (5/7), then swears in Tues am and flys out.  He is not right of High School so this is not the first time he is leaving (lucky for me), BUT it is the first time he is leaving town, so nervous about this big new change.  We had a nice talk on the way to and back to dinner with my family last night, and thank goodness for this site that has given me lots of directions so I knew what to ask him.  Still not fully prepared but I know I can rely on this site for direction and thank you for that, not fretty so bad for this reason!

Anyone else leaving Sacramento CA MEPS on Tues 5/8?  Are they really swearing in on Tues am and not Mon afternoon?

It has been 1 week since I dropped my son off and I still have that numb feeling at times.  I am getting better because I know this is what he wants to be doing.  His 9 year old brother cried himself to sleep last night, though, and that was so tough.  2 broken hearts aren't always better than 1 :(  I can listen to his favorite songs and all those sad songs without coming undone but I still get teary when I go into his room.  I am so hoping I get the form letter this week to give me his ship info so I can get his first letters in the mail.  Can I send a manilla envelope full?  I'm sure at least some of our SRs are together which after reading all the posts on here is comforting. 

When I first got on this site we had a few months to go, but go teared up reading, just knowing he would be going to.  Then it got better and horses came home from winter pasture and life is just always so busy, I figured I would be too busy to get all worried.  But he leaves for MEPS today and flys to BC tomorrow and I am sick to my stomach with nerves.  He is not right out of high school and left home before but he got pretty quiet yesterday when we were out eating, so I can see it is becoming "real" to him.  I want him to grow up and don't "baby" him, but now I am all worried.  I am sure this is normal but still, can't think or work right now!   I read how so many go through this, just thought I was tougher than that.  It was all fine til he got emotional.  And I am sure his Dad will be the same way tomorrow too.  If he is worried I certainly don't want to be too emotional so he feeds off of it too!   Even though will be home late after dinner with him and barn chores, I will check this site for any "words of wisdom" - looking for things to say to him to keep him strong.  Thanks all!

HossLuvinNavyMom  I know how you are feeling.  The day before and the day of MEPS my SR got real quiet like your son.  I think it was all sinking in for him as well.  He like your son had lived on his own and is not right out of high school.  In fact he is 29.  We ate dinner with our son (close family) at restaurant near the hotel where he was allowed to go after getting checked in at MEPS.  We talked about the current activities he has done and getting to see his friends recently since we had a party for him a while back. A hockey game was playing and the guys all chatted about that for a while.  I had put in his wallet a note that told him (again) how proud I am of him (always have been) and that he has grown up so well.  That this decision is a wonderful thing and it will provide so many opportunities.  I told him that we will think of him and wonder about all the "fun" he is having, meeting new people and getting to do what he wants to do.  The tears didn't start until we all stood up to let him go due to curfew and hugged everyone bye.  Just hug him and tell him you love him.  Enjoy the time together.

I last saw my son May1st, he left May 2nd, called me at 1:30 am, and told me he made it ok. He sounded so tired. His birthday was friday. He just turned 20. I miss him like crazy. I can not wait to hear from him. I carry my phone every where I go. I check the mail every day, even though I hear it will be weeks before he can write. Maybe they will let them call home on Mother's Day! I am a Army veteran and my mind tells me he will be ok, but my heart is just heavy. I catch myself crying all the dang time. He is me oldest and my only son. I am planning my vaction as soon as I get the PIR date.....

Just got home from work and got the "BOX" I didn't expect to get emotional, well yes I did....