Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

shortcake:  those Navy allergies are brutal!!  Hope you have a great run!

DoriBry, I understand your hesitation with Facebook, I never wanted to be on it either but joined just so I could get information from my son's ombudsman. They help alot and will give you a ton of information coming right from the school he or she is attending. I far perfer this site and feel alot more comfortable here but I did get to meet up with another Nuke Mom living fairly close and if I wasn't on the Navy Mom Facebook page we might of never met. The down side of Facebook is some of the Moms can be a little nasty, the good thing stay away from them. My daughter set up my page and I only allow a handful of really close friends.  You don't have to accept anyone you don't want.  Just be careful and take comments with a grain salt.

The Face book that I am on I can't see the adm.  It is a picture of a flag in background and a Sailor facing to our right.  It says "Navy Recruit Training Command (RTC) - Great Lakes - Boot Camp...  

Is this the one you are all talking about?  Sorry, I am soooo bad at this technology stuff!!

Happy Friday to everyone!

Wearing R.E.D. – with red sparkle face mask to top it off …

Manycolors – believe me these women had to witness my Freak Outs too & they are all so wonderful & supportive.  This is the best place to go believe me!

BelovedbyHim – yep, those 03 fires had us evacuated 2 times from 2 locations…eye opening experience for someone NOT from So. CA.  Thank goodness for my son-in-laws family & ours merging when our oldest in High School so we had places to load up the families & all the animals to land at.  Still not fun!! We were fortunate that none of us lost our homes but, others we know were not so lucky.

I absolutely HATE “fire season”! 

mom2blondies- Believe me I fell apart & obsessed about Everything & the Navy Mom “allergies” were really bad for several weeks… my poor co-worker had (ok…still has to) listen to me constantly & obsessively since he left.  My middle daughter complains that I have always been “obsessed with him since he is the baby & only boy”…she maybe right I admit.  And no I do not see that changing…I am a true MommaBear with all my kiddos. 

And yes, I still have those dang blasted “allergies” at times…they seem to come in waves randomly but, with less severity as we went through boot camp & now sitting at A school holding…   But they are still there.  For the first half or so I was a total mess/basket case/zombie just getting through the days & nothing got done at home or at work.  To be truthful nothing still this entire time in either place.  Even cooking/baking has been a struggle so we have eaten a lot of junk foods which is not our “normal”. My dh loves it as he Hates veggies & healthy foods… but NOT good for any of us but, it was all I could muster.

When he left it was like a “death” but yet, he wasn’t gone forever & I knew deep down it was the best & what he wanted to do, but I was/am afraid/terrified at the same time.   I just think Co-Vid & the loss of our “normal” from it just intensified my feelings & as we struggle through this pandemic & the losses it has brought to everyone around us my fears are intensified.

This group of wonderful women are the Only ones who understand any of my moments & a grounding safe place to vent, cry, share, encourage & celebrate as it is for many others.   We are All in this Together! 

Moms sharing, supporting & blessing each other on our new journeys with our precious children.

Shanny- I can totally relate! If he gets to come home a few days I will be in bliss & in grief that he will once again leave.  I just wish I could give you a Giant Big Hug!!!  And we could cry together that is for sure. 

Chipmunk -OOO Love finding new recipes so will definitely look at your new discussion page.  And I may share a few old family favorites too… I did see the crockpot group but, not sure if it is very active or not but being gone from house for 12plus hours each day I love a good healthy crockpot recipes that can sit for 12plus hours cooking & on warm until I return.  What makes difficult is dd can’t eat tomatoes or broccoli in any form…sad for her needless to say.

Well better get off & pray my co-worker shows up early as I asked her too as Vet arriving to check my horse as Wednesday night he wasn’t able to stand on back left foot or walk…was standing on his toe & in obvious pain.  Good grief!  What is a Momma to do between our 2 and four legged babies?! 

Have a Great day everyone & stay safe!!!! 

Just dipping in to say hi.  There's snowflakes drifting down, but it isn't really snowing. Pretty, but the stuff that sticks is only a few days away.  Kittens to the vet today, second round of shots.  They're a handful and have already tried to run off with my little tabletop tree!

mom2blondies, just as well your son and his GF didn't go to RTC at exactly the same time.  Contact and communication between recruits is carefully controlled, even talking or writing letters.  Best to not see each other at all!  

Good Morning and Happy RED shirt Friday! 

Just a reminder, there are many Navy pages out there (where you can find lots of information) but the only OFFICIAL NAVY PAGE is:

U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command

@NavyRecruitTrainingCommand  · Military Base

Thank you for the facebook tips.  I may have my oldest set up an account for me with minimal information especially if it means getting updates on what my son may be doing now and in the future. I know it will be worth it.

proudandgrateful-I dont know about the "cooler" part but according to my husband I only have instagram because I like "stalking" people.  That is a little extreme especially since its public.  There is a US Navy account you can follow on there and they post pics. 

Northwoodsmom-Yes that would be wonderful if I came across another mom who lives close by.  

Shanny-Instagram can get political also but the good thing is I can just hit the "unfollow" button.  I do follow someone who does a live workout everyday including sat and sun.  It has done wonders.  So instagram does have its pluses.  I do not have twitter so have never tweeted.  

GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!

Be sure to watch the game tomorrow!

For the first time since WWII the teams are playing at Army's Michie Stadium due to Covid-19 concerns.

FYI - The January 2021 PIR group is up.  Here's the link:

PIR JANUARY 2021

January 07, 2021 – No Graduation

January 14, 2021 – No Graduation

January 21, 2021 – TG 09 Divisions (065-078)

January 28, 2021 – TG 10 Divisions (079-092)

Northwoodsmom: I think this whole thing was so much harder for me to process because it sort of came out of no where. He's always been interested in the military and collected a bit of memorabilia but it was never something he talked about doing. He was well into a very successful career at an age that is almost unheard of. Then when covid hit it screwed things up to where his ability to promote was put on hold. Not knowing how long it would be before being able to advance his career he decided to enlist. He cannot sit idle and I knew he would be miserable working in the same position for an undetermined amount of time. His thinking was that he would go in and get all of the exceptional training the Navy had to offer, possibly even further his education, and get out still younger than most start on the career path he was on. I have a sneaky suspicion though that he might end up loving it so much that he stays in and makes that his career but time will tell. 

VintageGal:Oh I see, no, not exactly the same job but in the same 'family' of sorts. It does sound like our kids are similar. Mine is such a happy, outgoing, funny kid but I always joke that he has too much motivation. I try telling him it's ok to be content where you are and enjoy when things are going easy. He would tell me, "I've had an easy life, now I want to do something really hard so I know I can do it."  I'd say, "Oh great, so you are making this is MY fault for making sure you had a good childhood and stable family." Haha.....we are a very sarcastic family with a bit of a warped sense of humor so he just laughed at me. 

LadyBlueFire ~ HAHAHAHA! It's so true that if it's not moving they can't see it or find it! I can't tell you how many times the men in this household have called on mama to find things for them! I loved your caveman analogy! Spot on! 

Oh my goodness! imagine my reaction when I peaked in his room and they were talking while playing! At first my son didn't know I was there. It was great! They were laughing about how my husband bought a car to commute and now is wishing he had a truck again. The boys were saying "Bro! I called it! I knew that would happen!" So funny :) Melted mamas heart!! 

Good to know there's food delivery in ROM. I thought there would be but saw that some Sailors had issues with it. 

Proud and Grateful ~ Your sweet comment about my boys playing and the hopes of your boys having that one day had me in tears. It was a long time coming. I would say to my older son "please play your brother" and he was say " I will" but it rarely if ever happened. So my heart was full and melted! I hope that your boys connect in time. My sister and I are 6 1/2 years apart with me being the oldest. We had separate lives thats for sure, but now that we're adults and have families of our own, we're best friends. 

Enjoy putting your blue candle together! Please share pictures when you're finished! Good luck getting out of Hobby Lobby without buying up half the store! I know I can't! :)

Shortcake ~ Good morning sweet mama. Big hugs to you right now. I'm sorry you're having a rough morning. If you want and haven't already, try learning the lyrics to Anchors Aweigh. :) That's something I did because I knew our Sailors were going to memories it. My son was pretty impressed!

Stand Navy out to sea, fight our battle cry;
We'll never change our course, so vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.
Roll out the TNT, Anchors aweigh! Sail on to victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, hooray!

Anchors aweigh, my boys, anchors aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores, we sail at break of day-ay-ay-ay.
Through our last night ashore, drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Her's wishing you a happy voyage home.

Blue of the mighty deep, gold of God's great son.
Let these our colors be till all of time done, done, done, done.
On the seven seas we learn Navy's stern call:
Faith, courage, service true, with honor, over honor, over all.

NewMilMom ~ Your post to mom2blondies was very encouraging and had me in tears!! You're recalling all of those feelings that we've all had and can very much relate to and still can. I love your way with words :) And yes dear daughter we love all of our children the same but he's the baby boy!! 

I hope your dear horse has it's hoof problem taken care of quickly! Poor thing! 

Anti M ~ Good to hear from you! Wild kitties attack!! They sure love Christmas trees! Good luck!

DoriBry ~ Good morning! Sending out those letters I bet! :) 

Mom2blondies ~ Sounds like your son is a hoot! Sweet boy! Now I want to say that my youngest sounds a lot like your son. He would've been the one shouting I LOVE YOU like your son did! He's my hugger, youngest but biggest, says the craziest things that has me in tears laughing kind of boy. He has mentioned the Navy or Air Force. I don't know if I could handle it! BNMH to you!! I hope if it's meant to be that your son and his girlfriend make it through it all together! That would be a neat story to tell the grandkids LOL <3 

Belovedbyhim ~ LOVE the shirt! Thank you! 

proud and grateful: What is it with these boys who like to be tortured?? A couple years ago he told me he signed up for a triathlon. I said, "Ok, but you don't have a road bike and you have never run at distance and you have never swam in open water. So how is this going to work?" He just shrugged and said he'd figure it out but he wanted to see if he could do it. He borrowed a bike from the neighbor and started running/biking/swimming on his days off work. We went to support him the day of the race and the swim was first and it took him so long I was getting nervous and asking my husband, "They know he's out there right? They will notice if he is in trouble?" FINALLY he exits the lake and onto the bike ride and run where he made up some time and ended up finishing right around the time goal he set for himself. He did a few more after that and did much better but then Covid hit and they cancelled them all. He was using those as his challenge (torture) and when that got taken away it was another reason he decided to enlist.

NewMilMom: Finding this group has really made me feel less crazy! I was starting to wonder if my feelings were irrational or extreme because no one could understand. My daughter in law was telling me some things my son was telling her about how he didn't understand why I was so upset and he goes away all the time and I never get that upset. UM....every...single...time I drop him off at the airport I cry all the way home, he just doesn't know it. Pre-covid he traveled a lot and once he turned 18 he started going by himself but we couldn't really afford for my husband to keep going with him. The difference is when he is away I can still call/text him and I know where he is. Why do these kids think we could possibly love one more than the other....although in private I do tell each one of them they are my favorite, haha! 

VintageGal: I really enjoyed getting to know his gf. He isn't normally one to bring girls home. Before he left I thanked him for letting us get to know her and he said, "No other girl has been important enough for me to want you to know." I do hope they can come out the other side of this together because it really would be a neat love story! 

I found these at Target last night. When the boys were little we would get an ornament that was relevant to the year. Random things like my oldest decided he loved bacon so we have a bacon strip ornament. My youngest got into baking and made a mean chocolate cake from scratch and I found a chocolate cake ornament, etc. It's been a couple of years since I put up a tree just because we've been so busy and no one wanted to help me and it just felt like 'work' and a mess to have to clean up afterward. I wanted to do a tree this year before he left and so we could reminisce over the ornaments. Finding this randomly on the mostly bear ornament aisle felt a bit cathartic to be able to place it on the tree this year. 

I had to go back 4 pages to read what I wrote this morning!! lol

BBH- Oh my I know. The boys said last night Oh and we even have valet service mom. I said well this is one of a kind adventure. My Sailor had duck and didn't like the sauce so he scraped it off. Lol But he liked the duck so it was good. My other son said mom they serve everything in small portions. I said well, that's a good thing don't you think? Lol

Some of the other ladies were talking about their Sailors/Sr's and their younger siblings and that's how my two boys are. They didn't really do a lot of things together they weren't rude to each other or anything just didn't hang out a lot with each other. I thought this trip would be a good idea for them, they will either kill each other or be closer than they were. Lol

Thanks for the tip about instgram. I didn't know the calls are free.

NewMilmom-I don't like the fires either. We went up to the cabin a couple of weekends ago which is in Prescott and the land that has burned just looks so bad and sad looking. It's like us with the heat 10 months is to long.

I also get mine socks and underwear as well. I figure they can always use them. I get those good black socks to and they seem to last a little longer as well.

Mom2blondies- That's a neat story about your SR and his gf. I love the anchor. I started my collection 3 years ago and have quite a few.  :)

Shortcake- Big hugs!!

VintageGal- I know right? It's something about our boys.  :)

Party of seven-  Good Afternoon  I am doing better today, thanks for asking!

Well it’s been one of those days... started washing his clothes from his sea bag. Put a load in the dryer walked away...  went out an hour later and nothing was dry. Figured I forgot to start the dryer...  started it again. Checked thirty minutes later, not dry. No heat. Called my brother who told me to take it to his house. His teenagers were home and they helped me dry it and fold it. Then came home and I had a house full of his friends here. Ok not a houseful but 4 of them laying around takes up the house!  Went to the store to get milk, came back and no one is here. No note. His clothes still in laundry baskets on the couch. Didn’t even carry them to his room. Texted him and asked where he was...  hanging out at my ex’s probably won’t be home for dinner. He has been home for dinner once in a week. Guess it’s Netflix alone for me again tonight

Thanks everyone for the good wishes for my 4 legged boy… Vet thought we might need xrays from what I described Wednesday night as he was presenting like he had possibly broken/fracture his leg…  But God is good and it is just a horrible massive abscess in this hoof.  Yes, odd to be grateful for that but, the other scenarios are much much much worse (& often fatal)… Luckily where it is in the resectioned hoof wall had broken off, therefore it was able to come out vs. being trapped to go up further. He is now sporting what we call a “poultice boot” for about 5 days (if it last that long…crossing fingers).  To be honest this is our 1^st time with this issue which for a horse that is 21years old & boarded in a stall in So. CA since he was young is a miracle.  I waited for my entire life for this boy & he has been through all my ups & downs for 10plus years.  He & I have a connection based on he & I learning together…my middle child & my sailor get frustrated that he doesn’t have the “normal” commands/cues as I never had any formal riding training growing up (they both had it tho).  For Momma it was just get on the horse & go being a farm gal.  What he knows is how I do things & it works for us. Others are like does he even know how to do “x” as he doesn’t do it… I have to ask what they are wanting as I don’t know what “x” is until they describe then I have to tell them “oh yes – he does that but, he doesn’t know that is what you want with how you are asking him.  I will show you”.  Then we do & they shake their head & tell me I am cueing incorrectly…but “incorrectly” for who?  He & I know it as we do it…so all good.  Oh grief! I am rambling…sorry.

belovedbyHim – Love the shirt idea! And yes, I promptly ordered for my new sailor.  At least he will have 1 wrapped gift this year. :-)  Thank you for the lists of what they would need…guess I need to also look for some good black socks.  What brands do you find hold up best for them??  For the Coyote brown tee do we need to look at a certain store for the correct one…  cotton is a must at our house too. Thanks!

VintageGal – Love that your boys were playing.  It sure makes a Momma happy & heart burst.  I love to watch & hear my 3 together ribbing each other & laughing at each other.  My 3 are very spread out in years…not intentionally but, that is just the way the good Lord saw fit to bless me with them.  There are 7yrs between my first 2 & 6 years between my #2 & my sailor.  Each 1 is a miracle & blessing!  Each has their strengths & weaknesses of course & each so very different, but as they have grown into adulthood I see a closeness that makes me soo very happy.    Thank you for your kind words & I didn’t mean to make your “allergies” go off.  I write from my heart & have always have.  

I will have to memorize the lyrics to Anchors Aweigh now too… will be fun to surprise him with fact Momma knows it too.  

mom2blondies – my sailor surprised us all with the fact he enlisted with the recruiter. He had always been interested in military history & had spoken about being in the military or 1 other career throughout growing up.  He did the education, training & obtained all his certifications for the other career & surprised us when he called middle daughter to say, “I joined the Navy this afternoon”…she thought he was pulling a prank on her at first.  Sure he had spoken about it over the last couple years but we all had encouraged him to finish college 1^st but, he choose to go now. 

LOVE the ornament!!!  I have been avoiding stores, but now I want to try Target (always a zoo in there tho). 

LadyBlueFire – your caveman analogy was Spot on!!! Rofl… 

Partyofseven- oooo what I wouldn’t give for some good Cajun cooking… Hand me a big bowl of gumbo at least…yummmm……  continued prayers for safe travels.

Shanny- oh no...sooo sorry...afraid it will be mine gone more than home if he gets to come but, at least I know he will be walking back in the door at the end of the night...

I ordered 2 of these candle vases this morning (etsy)...I will put an electric candle in for my blue candle.  I am excited!  I am not sure if I will keep 1 for home & 1 for work station or gift 1 to my parents for them to also have a Navy candle for him. I sent them a Navy Grandparents bumper sticker Dad can put on car/truck or heck they can pin onto fridge if they want & know they would like to do the Navy candle too.

Shanny: Hugs, hugs, hugs.

We replenish boot socks every year with FoxRiver Stryker socks. What's cool about the company you can buy for other military as a donation. Buy some for you son/daughter and some for other military members. Win/win!

Hey DoriBry... check your inbox left you a message :)

NewMilmom: oh, hope your sweet horse recovers soon! 

NewMilMom- Glad to hear the babe is going to be ok. We just went to Target and it was a mad house. Good lord. I will have to go early morning next time. 

Thank you for the prayers. Love those candle vases. I love my blue candles and those electric ones are nice too.

warriorprotector- Hey, How are you? Thanks for the tip. Everyone always gets underwear, socks and pj's. Lol You can't beat it!! 

Shanny- I know. Mine stays home his first two days in and the last two days he's home. Other than that he's in and out going here and there. :)

Try not to stress and just let him know you want him home the two days before he has to go back or how many days what works the best for you and him.  Big hugs to you!!!!

Good Evening everyone!! I am playing catch up and not done but I wanted to post before I forgot!

Northwoodmom - I love your candle. I like all of them but I don't remember seeing yours before.  I don't have one so for those of you that don't - it is okay as well. 

VintageGal and Northwoodsmom - Operation Petticoat is still one of my most favorite old movies!!

Shortcake - be sure to keep us posted with your sailor.

NewMilMom - The crockpot group is not that active but the moderator post things occasionally  and it is always good to see new recipes. I need to go through and find some new ones myself. Thoughts and prayers for your horse. 

So I have a dilemma. My Sailor had been talking about wanting to go to Vegas and I said when I get to come see at  your new base and he said no mom I don't want to stay there I said ok and he said no I want to go to Vegas. I was like ok.

So last night we got a last minute invitation from our niece that she is getting married at the end of this month. We were like oh well maybe we can make it a family affair and have the boys go to.

So when I asked my Sailor about it, he was like no I want to be with the family and I don't want to see someone get married. lol

My question is should I go to Vegas anyway (it's for the weekend) or should I stay home since he's here. I was thinking my Sailor would have wanted to go since he was talking about wanting to go there. And he's still talking about it. This is from someone that had no interest in this before and now all of a sudden he wants to go. He wants to go just not with the family. Lol 

I get it, it's the age and all I can do is talk to him about it but in the end it's his choice and his responsibility if something happens.

Anyways, thanks for listening.

Partyofseven - whoa whoa whoa! You’re talking about my neck of the woods! I think you need to send your niece a nice little gift and an I love you and bring your son to Vegas! Head on over to Margaritaville and ask for Jeff the bartender! 

Your niece should understand and I feel like you might regret it if you don’t do what your son wants to do. I could understand if these plans for her wedding were made well in advance but your son only comes home only once in a great while. Let me know if you head over there and I’ll meet you there to say hi!! Since it’s so impromptu maybe your niece could wait till the next weekend lol I understand your dilemma because my nieces are very important to me and I would croak if I couldn’t make their weddings. I guess it needs to be a family decision and I hope you all can be happy. 

Chipmunk ~ I will definitely be watching operation petticoat this weekend! I had the family do all of their chores after school so the house is clean and I will not be spending my entire weekend getting it done. 

NewMilmom ~ I agree, isn’t it the best sound when your kids are having a great time together! I walked in my sons room last night after the video games and he and my daughter both had their laptops on their laps, working on homework, and they were watching the Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol. So much sibling love last night I felt like my heart was going to burst! I have the pictures to prove it!  They know what makes me melt! 

Shanny ~ I hope you were able to have a good night mama! 

PartyofSeven:   I'm doing pretty well, thank you for asking! Just keeping super busy so I won't think about missing my 1st born or worrying. Pffft! Who am I kidding? HA!

How are you? Is your son wanting to go to Vegas alone or with friends? And not you? Or is he wanting you to go to Vegas with him? Wasn't clear about that.

VintageGal- She was/is ok with it since she knows it's so last minute. That's what I'm thinking. I know I would definitely send you a shout out.  :) I'm here.  :)

I will talk more about it when my Sailor gets home. Right now they are in Texas.

Shanny- Hope your evening was well.

warriorprotector- It's ok. We all do no matter how long they've been in.   :)

So far he doesn't want to go with the family and when he does go he wants to go with his friends.  :)

BBH- Good Morning, No this is totally last minute planned. I just thought I was ask him since he said he's been wanting to go. I guess things are better when your friends say them instead of your parents!!! lol

I am ok either way and we are not super close and her mom won't even be there. I will ask him again and see what he says.  :)

Good Morning ladies and welcome to all of our new moms, I hope your day was good yesterday. Keep those phones on you at all times and those ringers on loud so you don't miss any  calls.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask and someone will answer you. We also do repost links in case you can't find them as we can be chatty on here at times. Which is awesome!!!

Anti M- Good Morning, glad it's not snowing to bad. We just got a dusting up north. It is still so pretty thou. I love the snow!!!

I just to have to use the spray bottle on my cats when they were younger to stay off the tree but sometimes they still just loved getting in there!!!  Lol

My sons are 30 minutes out of El Paso so they will be home tonight. Praying for no mishaps!  

Have a great day ladies!!!

belovedbyHim, just wondering are their dress blues and whites cotton? When I was helping my son pull his very tight whites over his head because he gained weight during T Track they felt polyester. I was just curious and the reason for it being cotton is obviously very scary. I remember something years ago about kids PJ's needing to be cotton for the same reason. Hoping to get my house cleaned for the Big Navy verses Army game at 2. We call it Son verses Dad game. Have a Blessed day.

Northwoodsmom- Good Morning,

Me to. I have an alarm set so I won't forget. My Sailor is due in tonight so I am getting some last minutes things done.

I can't remember since I haven't seen him in so long. I remember that also about the kids pj's. 

Have a blessed day as well. 

Northwoodsmom, Their dress blues are either wool or a  polyester/wool blend, and their dress white are made of "certified navy twill" (polyester).

I don't know if the dress whites fabric has changed since the uniform change. I will ask my son.

Vintage, was doing good on the cleaning until I noticed the 1938 version of the Christmas Carol, now it's time for a cup of hot tea and a movie. Think of you whenever a old movie is on. This is one of my favorites for Christmas.

Good morning all. I'm taking it easy because I ran a fever last night.  I have had no exposure to other people for over two weeks, but it is still scary.  I feel awful.

Ah, Vegas.  I got married in Vegas.  When my husband was running flatbed steel into Vegas, I'd go with him now and then.  They had a staging area for the trucks just off The Strip, behind the Excalibur and New York New York.  We'd go to Santa Rampage when we could.  That's cancelled this year, the unofficial organizer, a good friend, is also a bartender and has contacts.  There's no safe way to pull off 700 bar hopping drunken Santas on Fremont Street.  It will be glorious when we get to go again.  My prior Navy nephew wants my husband's Santa suit, that seems like a wonderful legacy gift. Most of my Rampage pictures are not suitable for sharing, but I love this one.  What a memory.  We took over Santa's Throne (it was after hours) and took pictures with people for free.  Fantastic.

DallasNavyMom, hi I am pretty sure half the mom's are watching the game do I will try and answer by some of your questions. First off don't send any clothing to Boot Camp, they can't wear them. Everyone is issued the same clothes to wear and they won't be able to wear any civilian clothes until a while after the get to A school. They must class up first. 

I did get to see my son after A school once his chit was approved and took him something's he wanted. I mailed clothes earlier because he classed up after several weeks and could wear civilian clothes at times.  Depending on where your son is heading for A school will determine if you can visit him but if the door opens go for it because you never know what will happen the next week. We had 3 different travel plans between March through September and 2 out of the 3 we're canceled because of the virus so you will need to stay persistent and flexible. Your time will come so don't give up hope. My son's birthday is in two weeks he is in school and I found a lady to deliver him a birthday treat. Maybe once he becomes a Sailor and is at A school you can do the same. Prayers to you and his twin, it will be hard day for you but you will get through it.

Northwoodsmom-Thank you for clarifying on sending clothes to bootcamp.  I read that also and wasnt sure if it should be done. At this point I am not sure what I can do for my SR for Christmas especially since I am still waiting on the form letter with address. 

DallasNavymom-I was wondering myself about the possiblity of traveling to see my son before he goes to A school especially if he is having to wait. But he could be sent somewhere closer to home and that would even be better. 

AnitM-I hope you feel better and I love the picture.

Warriorprotector-I did not receive a message. Can you resend it?

Hi everyone.  I've been encouraged to share my son's journey so I will try to make it short (TRY).  He left on 9/1 and 100 days later he just graduated Thursday!!!  It was a tough road with a ton of emotions/frustarations.  We got a call from him on P day 4or 5 that he was going to be sent to medical for a hold until he had an asthma test.  He has NEVER had it.  Apparently they saw an inhaler in his records which  was years ago from an Upper Respiratory Infection!  So just as he was going in, his bunkmate got COVID and he had to ROM again...he was devastated and wanted to quit.  At the end of his 2nd ROM he was sent to medical and stayed 3 weeks waiting for a test that he passed with a 98%.  When he called to say he was finally heading to a division he was relieved.  He's done very well and said he loved boot camp, it was easy, and he was having fun.  Throughout all the bumps he pulled through.  I know God had him quarantined a 2nd time so he could become even closer to him, which he did.  He told us that and sent us about 10 pages of devotions he had written while in 2nd ROM.  If he hadn't endured it, I don't know what would've happened. 

For all of you that are going through similar situations, just encourage them not to quit.  I sent letters every single day with enough pictures to fill up an album!  They may say they want to give up, but I think the staff there helps them through it and encourages them.  Hang in there and know there is an end in site.  Hopefully not as long as our journey has been but it will all be worth it.

Now...if they would just give him his phone back!  :) 

coley423-Thank you so much for sharing and Congratulations to your Sailor.