POST PIR REFLECTIONS

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Reflecting on last Friday's PIR, I can honestly say I am full of anticipation and hope for my daughter in her new Navy life. I just watched 589 men and women graduate and become sailors in the finest military institution. Am I biased? Yes, but I shared the day with an old sailor, my dad, a Navy Reservist who spent 14 whole days on the same base almost 60 years ago. It was a proud moment for him as well, to witness the pageantry and protocol of such a distinguished occasion. We got to hear an 11 gun cannon salute to honor the graduation speaker, whose rank afforded him the honor. We listened as the Navy band played several Sousa marches, the Navy choir sang a beautiful hymn, and the performance division gave a spectacular show with rifles and flags. The drum line played some nice cadences as well! I watched as Navy active and veteran sailors stood all over the audience as the Navy fight song was sung!

My daughter looked so sharp in her dress whites, and it was so good to finally meet her friends, and their parents whom I connected with on Navy for Moms. It truly is a family that we have become to one another. We helped each other out, prayed our recruits through to the end of PIR, and were the encouraging voice to a fretful or doubting parent.
We spent an entire weekend together as she is staying in Great Lakes for the next 3 weeks for Indoctrination into the Navy and 2 weeks of A school. The weekend didn't seem to last long enough, though! My sailor wanted to sleep in our hotel room, and spent 3 hours dressed in her civvies curled up under the covers. We did manage to eat at a very nice upscale steak and seafood restaurant far from the graduation crowd in Lincolnshire at Eddie Merlot's. They honored our graduate with a free dessert, a sea salt chocolate fudge cupcake with a lit candle and a glass of milk. She loved it!
On Saturday, with her "peanut butters" on, their brown top, black pants and black "boat hat", we walked along the shore of Lake Michigan at the Waukegan Port District, a quaint little marina with an ice cream shack and eaterys. We walked out into the fog along the cement pier till we got to a small lighthouse, with fishermen all along the pier and the sounds of boat motors somewhere off in the fog of the lake. I knew our time was drawing to a close and it made me sad.
She took us to chapel with her, because she wanted us to experience the Gospel service she had attended while at boot camp. I must say, God bless the Navy chaplains and the pastors that give their time to our service members! The chaplains truly care about the spiritual lives of these young men and women. My daughter said after a rough week at boot camp, this was the bright spot of her time at Great Lakes. She felt uplifted by the songs and the messages and it gave her the emotional boost she needed to make it through another week.
We got to see where she lived at A school, visited the NEX, and ate our noon meal with her before saying goodbye. I didn't cry, but I sat and reflected all the way home about her new surroundings, the job that awaits her , and what life will be like without her frequent presence in our lives. I am super proud of her and her maturity, the resilience she shows, and the positive attitude she exudes. I am proud that so many of her friends seem to look up to her and that she has made so many good friends in the Navy.
Life is settling back into a new normal for me and I am not nearly as glued to Facebook and N4M as I was before, but I hope to always keep in contact with my new Navy family. Without them, I would have been a fretful mess! They are like apples of gold in settings of silver!