My Baby Graduates

Two months of hard work came down to this moment. Wearing a new sailors cap instead of the standard recruit cap they'd worn the last two months, she wears her uniform well and proud, and rightly so.

The roar of the crowd was deafening when the divisions marched in. Family and friends of over 500 graduating recruits filled the place all anxiously awaiting a glimpse of the new sailors. They stood at attention throughout, gazing straight ahead. From a distance I kept thinking I'd spotted her only to find, no that wasn't her. She was in the back the whole time, her height keeping her with the rest of the taller ones. And I swear she got taller while she was gone.

And she shrunk too. When they announced the beginning of "Liberty Weekend" the crowd poured from the stands mingling into the ocean of new sailors. She found us right away and I got to hug her for the first time since she left! A big hug, lifting her clean of the ground! She said she lost 4 pounds (which she didn't need to lose) but she's solid muscle now! You can see by her smile she was just beaming! So were me and Jason, her fiance. We got to have her all to ourselves for the day until she had to be back in barracks, like Cinderella's magic spell would would crumble at the stroke of 8:00.

4 letters and 2 phone calls had not been enough to really find out how she's been these last two months so now we got to hear stories. How the first couple of days, the first couple of weeks really were the hardest. Her picture on the military ID card shows her miserable, white faced, dark circles under her eyes. She said when they did the TB test that week she prayed she'd come up positive so she could be sent home. When the disappointment of a negative test sank in, she resolved to just get on with it one day at a time.

She found strength within her she NEVER would've known had she not done this. It was so hard for her but she said it eventually got easier, almost fun after getting to know the fellow recruits. All the exercising!! And waking up before dawn everyday (which she had never done consistently in all her 20 years!) The endless rules of which the slightest slip up resulted push-ups or some sort of torture. She has always been tough though.

One story she told me was the division had messed up on a lot of things one day. Their group leader made them all line up and told them to close their eyes and picture all their loved ones and how happy they felt about them. Then he said picture them all gone because of some stupid action because they didn't do something right. It was harsh but he got through to them about how important their actions actually are, no room for carelessness. Cassie said all the recruits were in tears except her. She closed her eyes and blocked out everything he said and focused on sweet tea! She pictured how good it would taste, how much she missed it, how she would feel when she got to drink it again... And she was so proud that she didn't cry and let him get to her.

I'm just amazed at how strong she is to have done all this. She kept going, watched 10 people not make it but she kept on with it! And so far from home not being able to call just anytime.

I had to leave Saturday but had the day to just hang out at the motel. Jason stayed with her the rest of the weekend. She was so funny when we drove off from base! She hadn't been in a car since she got there and forgot what it felt like! Today she is flying off to Pensacola, Florida to get on with the schooling part. 5 more months there of "Aviation Avionics". She should be able to come home for Christmas though.

By the time she gets done Jason will be headed into boot camp himself. He's enlisted full time, she is reserves, so somewhere they were going to fit in a wedding before he leaves. Then they will be stationed somewhere else.

So many changes. I'm so proud of her though!!