Ok, when does the Niagara Fall of tears stop?

[Beverly]

My ten year old daughter and I have been crying all day long (my son left for boot camp this am).....I know this is what he has been working for his whole life. I'm so proud of him, and am absolutely certian that he is safe and that this is the right thing for him.

Its like I'm grieving, and I know I'll see him again - so what is the deal? How long does Niagara last?

Mrs. Snoopy

[JnRene]

I'm hanging in there.....wishing for an address...lol

[Beverly]

That is the very age I teach - I'm an 8th grade inclusion teacher, but many of my students have missed a grade due to their disability so my school kids are 13-15 age range. I love it!! When I got into teaching and my they assigned me to 8th grade I thought I'd croak - but now when they try to move me - I (respectfully) protest. :-) Is your child served in an inclusion setting, or self-contained?

[JnRene]

He is in a self contained classroom....no way he would function in inclusion...lol I'm a realistic mom. He is very sweet and loving but has a little functional speech, no conversational speech and lots of unintelligable singing and babbling and echolalia. He is missing his brother and I wish he could understand...

[shirley-sailorAaron's mom]

joymar...
Thank you for the friend invite! I will also keep you and Matthew in mine. The first few weeks are the hardest! It's like Boot Camp for Mom's. We have to learn to be patient which is extremely hard when you can't communicate! I only have 3 weeks and 6 days until his PIR. He has been gone 6 1/2 weeks. I am counting the days now.! It will get a lot better when you can write to him, but it may take a few weeks. I know how you fee. I didn't get my son's ship and div number until week 4 because he got sick and was in medical isolation for week. So, I know how hard the waiting is! I never did get a form letter either. But, that was a rare thing, due to him being sick and changing ships. It just got overlooked because he never even knew anything about a form letter, I found out last week!

[Beverly]

Well, I unloaded "THE BOX". It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I came to N4M first and read some different threads, which prepared me, and then tackled it. :-) My son didn't show me the list in his DEP book until nearly midnight the evening before he left - and I just about freaked because I felt I was sending him away unprepared. He had been telling me he wouldn't need anything - but when I saw the list it looked like how you'd prepare your child for summer camp. He still insisted that he didn't need anything - so off he went with nothing but one set of clothes, a toothbrush and deodorant, and writing supplies. Everything came back - including the toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and writing supplies. So, he was right, he didn't need anything. He did get to keep a Sailor's Bible that his grandparents had given him. :-)

The best thing, was the box included his plane ticket and orders which included four other recruits who were travelling with him. I love this for several reasons: I'm a scrapbooker and this is a scrapbook treasure. :-) I got to see the route and times he took, which is somehow comforting. And the following are the four guys who were on the same orders: I'm giving initials as I don't want to convey too much info, but if your son's initials match - the guys might have travelled together. Phillip travelled with AKK; JCM; JMM; ZMM (the last two had the same last names - I wonder if they are brothers, or if its just coincidence).

[cjt's mom (seabee)]

My son leaves the 12th. Tears are falling just reading all this. He hasnt even left yet. I cant imagine what i'll be like that day. I am proud of him too and know this is what he wants. Its just knowing I won't be able to talk to him for awhile. Keep in touch and let me know how its going.

[Beverly]

CJT's mom: Welcome....you came to the right place for help with this journey. I believe N4M made the difference between me sinking or floating/swimming. It really helps to talk with others who are going through what you are going through. And, it does get better, when I started the Niagara discussion I was literally drowning in tears, but everyday it got better. The more information I can gobble up on what is going on with my son, the better I am able to adjust to the new norm. I know you'll be very active in the January bootcamp group, but you might want to peek at the discussion/threads in the Dec bootcamp group, and Leaving dec 13-18 group because there is a lot of info there that has really helped. Let me know how you are doing.

BTW: everything my son took with him, except his Bible and ID, he returned in the box that they send back home with their civilian clothes, so tell your son to take very little. Even the toiletry items will be sent back, so its a waste of money to try to buy it and send it with them. His cell phone will come back, but while he is at MEPS and at the hotel that first night it might be worth him having for extra phone calls, so you'll have to make that decision. Even stationery/stamps were returned in my son's "kid in a box". I also wish I had know that we could have seen him sworn in at MEPS and we could have said bye at the airport...but we didn't know until too late to do anything about it.