Wow! Never thought I'd hear one of my kids tell me that. What do you do? You bite your lip, fake a smile and tell them how proud you are while your stomach is churning and you just want to scream, NO! You know it's something to be proud of but you just can't imagine the thought of your little boy, because that's what he is, dressed in that uniform holding a gun putting his life on the line to protect our country.
Then you kind of chuckle. It's a nervous chuckle...wait a minute...my kid wants to protect this country? This is the same kid that leaves his underwear on the bathroom floor. The wet towel on the bed. The same kid that can't manage to get the candy wrapper, banana peel or dinner plate from his room to the kitchen and we're going to be counting on him to protect our country?! Oh yeah, the kid that has a come-back for everything, the kid that can quote a movie line at just the right moment from something he saw five years ago! Maybe I should stop feeling sorry for myself and start worrying about the Army!
This isn't what has my child gotten himself into, this is what has the Army gotten itself into!
But then, that mom thing takes over and you just want to cry. He's never been away from home for that long! But he says he's not worried about it. He says "I wasn't even nervous." Is that supposed to make me feel better? Then he tries to make me laugh. "Just think mom, 5 years of free haircuts." You laugh, then it hits you...did he just say FIVE YEARS?! He tells you don't worry, he'll write. Remember trying to get him to do thank you notes?! Yeah, he'll write. He may not, but I will.
Some days are good, some days aren't...He's still that little boy with the flat-top haircut and muscle man pose. Maybe that haircut was a glimpse at things to come. He's going to graduate and leave me. I'm selfish. I don't want him to go...
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