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Christine, I understand! I try not to cry every time I think of my boys leaving! My first son leaves in Aug. and my second one leaves in Nov.
I have had them with me for what seems like forever! The thought of not being able to talk them at the end of the day or hearing about their "nothingness" I find myself emotional when I'm around them. I know the Navy will take care of them, but the navy isn't their mom! They keep looking at me like I'm crazy. I never knew growing up was so hard to do! (On moms)
I am very proud of my sons! I just wish it wasn't so hard to let go!

Angie,
I am very gratful for all you said. This group has made it easier for me to understand all I am going through and I am not alone. I worry, but I know that I shouldn't. My first DEPPER wants to be a corpsman. He still lets me know that he wanted to be a Marine, but it was the Marine Recruiter that finally convenced him that in order to be a "medic" with the Marines, you have to be a Navy Corpsman.
There is so much for me to learn about the military! This site has been a true godsend!

To everyone who has a recruit leaving today and in the near future!! Everything you are feeling emotionally is normal from one to degree to the other. We are here for you all. The next 8 weeks go by faster than you think. I promise you will soon go from counting days/ weeks gone to days until PIR!! Welcome to the Navy!! HOOYAH new recruits and families!!

I forgot to say FEB 28 2008 is when my first sailor left and he is now in the fleet and getting reay for his first deployment. I didn't think that I would get through those first few days. MAR1 I found Navy for moms and I was number 40 something...Wow have I and N4Ms grown!! My second son will leave July 15 2009 so I am doing this all over again.

Arlene,
I'm glad you were able to talk to your son. I told my boys about the call. Now they are thinking of all kinds of weird things to say to me when they call me from BC. I also told them that they have to wear clean boxers to BC. I do not want to open a nasty smelly box of dirty underwear! I think I have opened a can of worms! They don't leave until Aug. and Nov. The things they can think of between now and then! lol!
Happy Birthday Vicki! I hope you have been able to spend time with your son.

The day finally arrived yesterday and he's gone. I am so glad we got to see him swearing in at MEPS and then be with him at the airport until he left. It was overall a good day but a very difficult one.

I do have some advice I feel I can now offer with this experience. If you want to see your recruit swear in call the MEPS office and ask what time you can be there......we were told families couldn't go but when we called they said we were more then welcome to come and see him swearing in. Also, if you want to go to the airport have your recruit go to the ticket counter and there he can ask for a special pass which will allow you to pass the gate all the way in and see when he leaves. It was a very long day for us, started out at 6am and we didn't get home until about 6pm that evening.

I will now join over to the bootcamp moms group but if anyone has any questions which I can be of help to please don't hesitate to message me and I will be more then happy to answer any questions I can.

Dianne I know how you must feel today. The cell phone advice is a great one, my son didn't take his with him but one of the other recruits had there's and shared it with the others and yes he called when he got to the airport to let us know how everything was. Please contact me anytime if you need to talk or a lending ear. I hope I get his address soon.


Michelle, I will definitely stay in this wonderful group and hope to add to any of the discussions in any way that I can.

I'm glad that you and your family are safe from the storms. I can totally relate to what you said about the phone. Last night I slept with two phones next to me including the cell phone. I think they will be attached to me for the next 8 1/2 weeks, lol.

Thank you Lynn for the warm thoughts and cute graphics. I love angels and collect them, lol.

Hi All!
My son has been in the Navy for a year now and is on deployment in the Persian Gulf. I volunteer with the Tucson recruiters to help answer questions and get to know DEPPER parents. If any of you happen to live in Tucson and are interested in joining us once a month on a Saturday morning for a casual chat session, come join the Tucson Moms group:

Click Here

Us N4M's also meet for coffee and potlucks every month or so. We'd love to get to know you and hear about your recruit! :)

I like the new look.
I just got back from visiting my nephew. He is in the Army, and is home for 2 weeks from Afghanistan. It was so good to see him! He wanted to visit with my boys so he could give some advice. I told him what I have learnd on this site. He said that the advice I have been getting is good. In fact what he had to say, I had already heard here.
I want to say Thanks to everyone. :)

Hi :-) my girl leaves 3/10 for bc out of Pendleton....any moms of daughters leaving soon in the Southern Cal./Orange county area?

Michell,
Congratulations on getting a german sheppard! I have one and he is the best dog I have ever had! :)
Stanley, let your mother know that she is not alone. My son, Laurence, has also signed to be HM. he ships out Aug. 25. She needs to read all the posts here. Even if she herself doesn't post, just reading all the comments her will help her so much. It has me!

Lynn will be keeping you and your mom in my prayers.

Debbie, since he was a minor at the time, I'm not sure, but a pass port is good for ten years.

If he every gets deployed over seas he will need one incase there is an emergency and they have to fly back commercial airlines.

Lynn, I am so glad you are able to take some time to see your mother! You and your mother are in my thoughts and prayers.

Jennifer, I am so glad to hear that your son will soon have his PIR. As for the ingrown toenail, I can relate! My son Laurence had to go through MEPS 5 times because of ingrown toenails! He had to get three removed and healed before they would take him. I was so glad that my other son, Richard, made it through on the first try!

Hi Beth!! my son son ship July 15

Hi Angie, how are you? Well IT came today, the BOX. I went to pick up my daughter from school and sure enough when I drove up to the house there it was.....sitting by the door. My husband had asked me to wait until he got home from work to open it and so as soon as he got home we opened the box together. Its a strange feeling this opening up the box with all of your child s belongings and nothing else.....no note or letter or anything. I think what a strange group we must be of moms and dads waiting for a BOX. I put everything back in the box and took it to his room. This might seem strange but I know some moms will understand, I think I'm going to wait a while before washing the clothes.

It was difficult but I'm glad I survived the box. Next, stalk mailman for first official letter from Great Lakes, lol.

Hi Mari..I am doin ok...my oldest deployed for 6 months on sat.....Ah the box...we pretty much did the same thing everything sat in the box in his room for a while then we wshed everything but his hoodie because it smelled like him.
Wed was mail day for us I rushed home every wed from work just to get that letter. Imagine that is how the they ffeel everyday!! I promise it will go faster than you think!!

Jor-Jean I will be praying for your son for a quick recovery.

Diane I'm sure that you will get the box this week. Yes, my son also left on the l8th and so I had been looking out for it since last Saturday.

Angie F, I know what you mean about being on N4Ms all the time. I spend a great deal of time on the site, somehow it makes me feel connected to him. I'm going to start stalking the mailman today, I want my form letter with his address, lol.

Angie, wow 6month deployment that must be tough. I guess we all start taking baby steps to prepare us for when deployments come. Will you be able to have some contact with him even through email?

Christine, I understand about your son not being a writer. I don't think my sons know their address. I have told them both, when they go off to BC, I am sending all the address labels I get in the mail with them. That way, they have no excuse not to write home.
I hope you find a place for the box. It's hard having a mixed family.

Christine I received the box yesterday and can tell you that your son will decide where the box will be going to. My son wrote our name, telephone number and address on the box in a black marker. I received a pretty large box, it had his coat, sweat hoodie, all the clothes he had on (including underwear and socks), his shoes and his backpack. Everything is sent back except their wallet and whatever he had in it. They keep their social security card with them.

Mom you can let him know he's wanted, just start writing lots of letters now so that once you get his address you can send them out. They may not write back a lot it depends on how much time they have on Sundays.....the important thing is that he receives mail from family and friends letting him know how much they love him and how proud they are of him. I haven't gotten my sons letter yet so I don't have an address for him yet but I started writing him the day after he left, I write him every day and then number the letters.

Its okay that you stick up for your son that's what mothers do.
Take care and God Bless.

Kelly, that is a good question about sleep! My first DEPper to leave, Laurence stays up all night and wants to sleep all day! My other DEPper is an early riser. I guess they will adjust some how. I also like the idea of post cards. My boys will do anything to avoid writing!

Diane that's great news, now you can write to her and find out her grad day. We called our recruiter today for the address but were told that we have to wait first for him to write us to get his address. I would think the recruiter would have an address by now its been six days. Oh well, just have to be a little more patient.

Teresa sending prayers for Tyler your way, best of luck to him tomorrow.

Karen I just finished writing my son a letter and was about to put a rubber band in the envelope for him to keep the letters together and then decided against it thinking he might get in trouble or something but now I'm glad I read your post and will know its okay to send a rubber band or two with next letter I send.

Jor-Jean my husband just put the car under our insurance for now. We will have our son get his insurance when he has his car in Pensacola......I believe they get a special rate which is much lower then what they normally pay.

Diane..thank you. Yes I hope I get it soon too. Its very difficult not being able to write or talk to them. We received the "BOX" on Monday.

Michelle, happy 18th birthday to Craig!!!!!!!!

Michelle, I hope Craig had a Happy Birthday! : )
Teresa, Congradulations! That is very impressive! I hope all goes well.

Kelly when I wrote my son yesterday I told him to go ahead and get a Navy account. I'm not sure which week they do all the paperwork for this sort of stuff.

Sammie thank you for sharing this video, it was adorable and brought a smile to my face. I will forward it to my daughter, she lovessssss cats, lol.

Christine my husband is a member here and he is also a member of navydads.com. They are a great group of men and offer a lot of support and information.

Good Morning everyone, I guess I shouldn't complain about how cold it got here. The temp has dropped to 65 and I am cold. Yesturday the high was 85.(Dallas, TX) My son Laurence is looking forward to being in cold weather. He says that he wants to be stationed where it is cold, so I won't go visit! My other son Richard is indiffent about being in the cold. He says that most of BC in inside. I think they will both do A school also in GL. One will be a corpsman and the other CS (Culinary Specialist)
I love the advise on money matters. I am bad, so I have not been able to instill anything except, learn from my mistakes. As far as I know, both want to open accounts with the Navy.

Susan, I understand about your DEPper. I have two, one 19 and the other 17. Neither are interested in driving. They expect me to take them, or just don't go. I have decided, when I'm not around to taxi them around, maybe they will be motivated. They have learned about public transpotaion, maybe they will do the same in GL.
Good Luck!

Susan, Good Luck!!! Let us know how it went.

Jor-Jean, Some like that happened to my nephew. He is in teh ARmy, and was home for 2 weeks R&R from Afganistan. On his way to the airport, he gets a speding ticket. He is wearing his BDU's. When the officer he would not be around for the court date, the officer asked why not. He said that he was on his way to the airport to go back to Afganistan. The officer appolgized, but said that since the ticket was already writen he couldn't do anything! I wish police officers were more compastionate toward those defending our country!

to you Jor-Jean were here for Ya!!

One year ago yesterday my oldest Sailor left for bootcamp...I will never forget that day!! March 3 I joined Navy for Moms.... But my has the time go by fast and now he is on his first deployment!! It's almost like bootcamp all over..don't when you will get to talk them and wondering what they are doing.

Hugs to all ~Angie

Jor-Jean, I want to wish you and your son well. Let's us know how things went.

Jor-Jean good luck to you and your son. Tell your son we wish him the best and will keep him on our prayers.

I just wanted to comment on the question about pictures. My sons hated it that I was there, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world! Even though they were only being sworn into DEP, I was there and took pictures. I have them posted on my page. When they go off to bc, I have already told them, I will be there. I was impressed that the recruites going through MEPS are fed by our local Red Cross. I now donate to them through United Way as well as USO.
My advice is that if you can, go to your child's swearing in. Take pictures! You will treasure them for ever! The only problem I had, holding back tears.

Natalie, I'm so glad you are able to attend. Let us know how it went!

Karen-Pungaew, make sure you take your camera so that you can take pictures at the swear in. Also, if you decide to go to the airport to spend time with him before he leaves you can do that, just have him show his paperwork at the airport counter and they will give him a gate pass for you. We were able to do this with our son when he left (Jan. 18th) and we are so glad we did.

Jor-Jean, Thanks for sharing yor story. I cried. I know Aug. seems like a long time, but I have started to prepare myself. My youngest son leaves first. Like other moms here, I'm not ready to let go. (They are!) As for the swearing in, I have told my boys, I will be there and nothing will stop me! I have already told my principal I will be out both days that my boys leave and I will miss days to go to their PIR! She understands, her father is retired Navy!
Keep us informed.

Hi Jenny, you can go early to MEPS the next morning to see him swear in and take pictures. I would say arrive around 6:30, the swear in can be anytime between 7am-10am I believe. We called the MEPS office the day before he left to find out how early we could be there and spent most of the day at MEPS until the bus took him to the airport. We wanted to spend time with him at the airport so we followed the bus and also once he went to the counter and got gate passes for us. It was a wonderful experience for us all. There was a group of about seven of them going to Great Lakes so we all had lunch and then took pictures. Its up to you and your recruit, ask him and see what he is comfortable with.

Jor-Jean, How are you doing today? I hope you are coping well. Let us know when you are able to get information from your son.

Jor-Jean, Who says you have to leave us? We need your advice, words of wisdom and encouragemnet! I need to know that there is someone out there who knows what I'm going through when my boys leave me. Sometimes I feel too clingy, and then I come here, and low and behold, there are other mothers with the same strugles that I am having.
I can't speak for other moms, but I love to hear from the "experianced" moms. The ones who come here and say "I know what you're going through. I understand, you are normal to feel that way."
Thanks to all the moms who no longer have a DEPPER, but stay to help those of us who do.
There is so much wisdom here.

Kathryn, Thanks for sharing the pictures. They give me a better understanding as to where my boys will be living for a while after training.

Jenny- make sure he has a phone card that has been activated and that he knows how to use. also - if you get a chance, write a note and stick it in his wallet for him to find. My son wrote a note back to us on the back of the note I wrote to him. He wrote it on the plane on his way to Great Lakes. It was in the pocket of his jeans when I got "the box". He wrote about how excited he was to begin this new stage in his life. I saved his letters and someday will make a scrapbook. good luck to you and your son. Just write, write and write. I sent a card each morning, wrote a letter during my lunch break and dropped it in the mailbox on the way home everyday. They SO appreciate getting mail. Start writing as soon as he leaves. Number or date your letters in the bottom corner or on the back so if he gets several at one time, he will open them in order. Once you have the address from his recruiter, you can send them.