Moms of Daughters 2

The USS Lincoln made history today as it leaves on deployment with the first ever woman to lead a nuclear carrier in US Navy history. 

BZ to Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt.

Fair Winds and Following Seas!

Thank you for the exciting news! 

More great news for women in the Navy announced today!

Cmdr. Billie J. Farrell is scheduled to take over as the commanding officer of the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides, on Jan. 21.  This will be the first woman commander in the warship's 224-year history.

USS Constitution - 1st woman commander

Let's hear it for these awesome Navy women!!!  I have to be patient for a little bit longer but there is some exciting news for my Officer daughter in the near future!!!!  We don't want to jinx things so I can't spill the beans yet!!!  Stay tuned. . . . .

Anna that sounds mysterious!  Looking forward to the big reveal. 

We all know that the Navy can change things right up to the last minute so I just have to wait until she gets the papers in hand!!!!

Good Morning Everyone!! 

If anyone needs some tax information for their SRs or Sailors, my son shared that his master chief told him to check out Military One Source. Here is information that I found online - MilTax Tax Services & Benefits • Military OneSource

Hi Ya'll!  Just wanted to share that my one and only girl succesfully completed BS21 in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and will do her PIR this Friday, March 18! Bravo Zulu to my baby!!

BZ Ummi!

Awfully quiet around here....we finally had B&C's "wedding".  It was fantastic!

Ummi - My apologies that I never responded to your post here. I was in the middle of some serious family issues right at that time.  If I am not mistaken, has she moved on to her duty station or is she still in school?

B'sNukeMom - Beautiful pictures. Your sailors waited until they were both out to get married whereas mine married while still enlisted, but my sailor gal has moved on to her shore duty orders now, while my son is still on sea duty. 

Hi Sandy - I hope that you receive this message. You posted to the group which goes through our email feed, but there is no way for us to reply to you. If you come to this area on the comment wall of this page, then you can post your message and more members will see it. 

I also highly recommend that you join the Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones) - Navy For Moms (ning.com) - there are several other moms going through the exact same thing as you are. We highly recommend that you involve yourself in some project, posting on the groups, which this site is easier to navigate on a computer. If you are on a mobile device, we recommend that you put it into desktop mode. 

Sandy - I cannot get this to post onto your profile page. 

click on this link - First Things First-- The Quarantine Edition - Navy For Moms (ning.com)  It will take you to BelovedbyHim's blog. She has updated it, but it is her reminder that Everything will be okay!!  

It is hard to let our children or grandchildren go. I don't know what your religious background is, and generally, I don't get so pointed and bold on here, but I want to share with you what my Mother in law told me when she sent my husband to Army basic training - almost 40 years ago now. She knew that she was starting to feel down and depressed at missing him and she had to tell herself that she was not the one that needed to feel sorry for herself, but that she needed to be thinking about her son and praying for him and the things that he was going through. If you are interested, we also have a ✟CHRISTIAN NAVY MOMS - Navy For Moms (ning.com) group, if that would be of interest to you. 

Fast forward about 8 years from my MIL having those feelings about my husband and I was now married to him with an 18 mo. old and had just had a miscarriage. He had to go do some summer training for ROTC and I was feeling just as down. Interestingly, my mother told me the same thing as my MIL had to tell herself. I had family around, I still had my life - nothing had changed much except for him being gone - and he was coming back in two weeks (I realize it is different for you.) but I had to change my perspective and start focusing my energy that I was spending on praying for my husband and taking care of things that I could do. 

There is a difference, I do not discount that. There is also a huge separation, some of the moms have shared that they feel like they are grieving as though they lost a child. (We just came back from the funeral of a young child - it is hard.) Have you been writing letters to your granddaughter? Do you have friends, someone you can ask to just go to lunch with? They may not understand but they can listen. 

See if you can find a Blue Star Mothers Group in your area. Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc  - One mom looked up her local VFW to see if there was any way she could help out and volunteer, or volunteer at a local VA hospital, at an airport USO for military traveling. Our local airport has a hospitality room that is hosted by the YMCA. 

Staying active and getting busy with something helps. My son left for BC 5 years ago - That year, I had lost my mother (already lost my father, and a childless aunt and uncle), lost that aunt's childless brother - so I dealt with most of the estate stuff, had one daughter get married before her brother left and had a 2nd daughter get married prior to his PIR in an outdoor wedding at a property we were maintaining, so had to do yard work. And I had 2 other children as well. I actually told my son, the summer is probably going faster for me than for him! But it kept me from dwelling on him being gone all the time. 

Work on putting together a Blue Candles - Navy For Moms (ning.com) display - the link will take you to a discussion on the BC Mom group where we share some examples. 

Accept my friend request. 

Nice article on the Blue Angels 1st Female Pilot:

Blue Angel's - 1st Female Pilot

Great article regarding Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt:

1st Woman to command aircraft carrier recounts mission

Good Morning - I just wanted to direct you all to a post on the general page - What are the rules - Navy For Moms (ning.com)

You can see a link to Cathy's previous post on that page as well. Her son and DIL are both at GL in BC. The DIL has injured herself. She is asking for rules or advice about writing both of them now. I did not know if anyone had experience or thoughts along these lines that they could share with her. 

Liz - I am glad that you joined this group. Be sure to come and say hello so the other members can get to know you. I actually joined this group, once my son got married and my DIL is a sailor as well. 

Hi Liz, I left you a reply to your Thank You discussion and I also posted a comment on your profile page. You managed to join this group. So, if you go to the link that B'sNukeMom and I both provided for the BC Mom group, and you click the join button in the upper right corner of the group page, then it should automatically accept you. 

When you go back to your profile page, (click on My Page) in the blue banner above it will take you to your page. Scroll down and in the middle you should see icons of your different groups. You can click on the BC Mom group there or from the link we shared. 

As I say often, this site is much easier for me to navigate on my computer. If you are on a mobile device, be sure to put it into desktop mode. 

To add to another group for you to join -  PIR November 2022 is now set up. That one you will click on the yellow banner where it tells you to. You will have to wait for B'sNukeMom to approve you before you may post in that group. That one is a private group, and the posts are not visible to the public like here or in the BC Mom group. 

Sorry - I just got a notice that you had joined the BC Mom group!! Way to go. Now you can join the Nov PIR group as well. :-)  In that group, you may share your daughter's division #. 

Hi Liz, welcome!

BC does seem to last forever!  But believe me, before you know it, the time will be gone.  Next week will make the 7th anniversary of the day we dropped our daughter off at MEPS, I look back and wonder where that time went.

When she was at BC I heard from her more often than I expected, same thing when she was deployed.

Something that helped me when she was at BC was that I started a letter to her on my computer.  Every time I thought of something, I'd time stamp the letter and add to it. Once a week I'd print ut and pop it in the mail. She told me that she read it by section, giving her something to look forward to each day.

Just reach out to us when you need to talk. Anna, Oleander and I are old hands at this! 

Liz you sure can share that. Also, what is she doing after BC?

We may have a mom or two on here with some experience in her area. 

How long has your daughter been gone?  The first couple weeks were the hardest for me. 

Liz my mommas heart hurts for you. I promise that it will get better!  

My daughters PIR was 10/31. It's better to be in BC at GL now rather than when it gets colder! 

Liz,

I am so glad you are here with us.  Those weeks of BC are really hard and it seems like forever until we hear from them again.  I am a Navy vet and went through BC 100 years ago and kinda knew what it would be like for my girl but I still cried daily when she left.  She reported to BC a month after my Mom passed away and I felt like I was never going to see my girl again.  Thank God it did get better.  Then her twin sister went off to Officer Candidate School after graduation from college.  I think that was worse because the stuff they go through in OCS is 1,000 times harder than BC!!! Punishment in OCS is extreme PT in the sand pits!!  Lots of tears shed then also!!  But my officer daughter just celebrated 12 years and I have a son that is almost at 20!! One thing I did for both my girls was to print pictures and little jokes on plain white paper and then write my letter around them.  They loved seeing what was going on in there absence and a little something to laugh at and the end of the day!! And it didn't take up any extra space in the envelope!!! Know that you are not alone, we have all gone through this same thing so we understand completely how hard it can be.  Do stay in touch and let us know how she is doing when you hear from her.

Sorry I've been silent for such a long time.  My summer has been crazy but things are finally settling down!! Good news about both of my sailors - Son has been selected to become a Chief Warrant Officer and will get Commissioned on November 1st!!  His younger sister, the officer will be the one giving him his oath of office!!  It's going to be another box of Kleenex moment for me!!!

And now I can spill the news on my daughter.  Jenn put in for a transfer to a new classification and was accepted.  She is no longer a Naval Flight Officer ( but still gets to wear those wings) and now is in the Navy Medical Corps. She went through training and earned her second set of Gold Wings as an Aerospace Experimental Psychologist. She was given orders to Patuxent River Naval Air Station.  So after attending her winging ceremony in Pensacola I helped her get stuff packed and ready for the movers and then drove with her and her dogs up as far as Asheville and then she continued on to Maryland.  With her connections she makes all over she was able to get permission to hold her winging ceremony on the flight line of the Blue Angels!!  We were right alongside Fat Albert and afterwards was able to go inside and sit in the cockpit!!!  I was so excited!!!  I'll include some pictures here as I got to do the pinning.  Also my husband and I moved this summer but still here in the Asheville area.  Oh, and I also had eye surgery!! Like I said - it's been a crazy summer.

Hi Anna!  Congratulations on both of your kiddos.  Wow! Are girls (and boys) are amazing. I know how proud you must be. 

We got to spend about a week with our sailor daughter in June. Otherwise we're just trying to avoid the heat! 

Liz, 

First of all don't feel guilt over directing your daughter to go to school.  It can still be beneficial to her in the future.  And don't worry about her not knowing what to do with her future.  Once she gets to her next duty station, or anytime during her time in service, she can apply to go to school and the Navy will pay for her tuition!!  My son got both his Bachelor's and his Master and had no college tuition expenses.  My daughter who enlisted finished her enlistment and got out and then went to college on the GI bill and again had no college expenses after graduation!!  There are still so many options for her in the future!!  As you can see from my "book" below, even my Officer daughter was able to change her career path.  She thought she was going to continue as a flight officer and go on a ship but with her training she put in for this other program and they swooped her up!!!  Lots of possibilities once she figures out what she wants!!!  Best of all good luck to your girl.

JayDee659, Oleander, & Anna - Thank you so much for reaching out to Liz. Things had been rather quiet on here and I know B'sNukeMom and I will send new members your way, so thanks for your words of encouragement. 

JayDee659 - I am glad that you got to see your sailor gal and hubby. From what I have gathered, their set up is what mine are looking at with my DIL reenlisting and my son looking at finishing up his enlistment next year. 

Anna - Congratulations!! BravoZulu! Let your kids know that we are super proud of them as well. If any of them get stationed back near my neck of the woods, be sure to let me know. I have an informal guest room, that you are welcome to use. 

Oleander - I don't recall, is your daughter still active duty? 

Liz - my sincere condolences. You are entering a new season of life with your daughter leaving home, having just entered another one with your husband's passing. Over my 5 years here, I have met many Navy Moms, several of them widows. You are not alone. Is your daughter your only child, or do you have other children? 

Liz, my oldest went to college. During orientation they told us that the average college student changes majors 4 times before the end of their sophomore year! They're young people, how are they supposed to know what they want to do when they grow up? Heck, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up! Lol

My sailor is a Nuke. She started out saying that she was in for life. Then it was "at least thru shore duty", then let's see how close I am to making Chief.  She's now re-enlisted twice and she's done something (I can't tell you yet until it's official) that is really mind blowing for me.

She did meet her husband in BC and they just celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary in July.

I'll say it again, we have amazing daughters! 

Liz, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that tje ladies on here got me through BC.  I probably wore them out but they were my lifeline to sanity!  My daughter joining the Navy got me some lifelong friends too! 

Oleander, I was wondering what time zone you were in! 

At the moment it's 88, feels like 98 and the thunder storms come and go so the pool isn't an option.  We're running some errands then going for orange ice cream!

JayDee and Oleander,

I agree with the lifelong friends comment.  We may not be as active as we were back in the day, but I still think of you all often.  JayDee, I hope IAN wasn't bad for you.  I worried about all my friends and family in Florida!!

One a good note - Steve and I have finally found our second, much smaller, travel trailer and are looking forward to doing some more travels next year.  We haven't picked it up yet cause we are getting solar panels added.  I really hope we get to meet up again soon!! Certainly won't be doing full time travels like we did but we're looking forward to traveling again!!

Chipmunk,

I will certainly keep your kind offer in mind.  I forgot you were in OKC and my veteran daughter still lives there.  I hope next year to go visit her and her husband again but staying in their little house has never been an option!! If nothing else, I hope I can get the chance to meet you and maybe do lunch!!!

Anna, That would be lovely!!

Oleander - My thoughts exactly!!! It is so wonderful to have friends all around the country via Navy Moms. Enjoy your travels. My kids are spread out as well. Thankfully, the grandchildren that I currently have are only a day long drive away, but that is still hard and plane flights are not cheap. 

The last I heard on JayDee, she had posted she was with her daughter. 

Oleander you are so sweet!! Don't forget - our Sailor Son is still in NV so we may very well be out that way!!!!

Today is 7 years since my daughters PIR! The best part is that 7 years ago I met some amazing friends who have been with me all the way.  Thank you Anna and Oleander for all the love and support. I think that the 3 of us are the last OGs lol. 

It is with a thankful heart that we rejoice with my DIL as she made her promotion to 1st Class!!! In 4+ years, she is an E-6 and now out classes my son again. We were joking that she could give her husband her 2nd class hand-me-downs. 

I hope others who were anticipating their promotions received them. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

- Chipmunk, congratulations to your DIL!  That is a big accomplishment. I wish both your son and DIL continued success.  My daughter has a good year and a half to go, but I can't wait for her to take her first rating exam.  

Bootcamp0924 - Thank you!! She was very happy that my husband was able to work things out with is command, so he got time off to attend her frocking. 

There are a lot more things than just the exam that all go into qualifying for an advancement, I am sure your daughter will excel in those areas as well. 

Happy Saturday!

Chipmunk - Yes, for sure! I hope my daughter excels in all the areas she needs to succeed.  As a prior U.S. Navy Chief, I will be there to assist her in every step of the way. ☺

Bootcamp0924 - I forgot about your prior Navy experience. It sounds like she is in good hands with you as a mom to guide her. My DIL wants to make Chief.