A Great Day

I woke up around 4am Friday so I could drive the 40 or so miles up to Great Lakes Naval Training Center to see my son graduate boot camp. The roads around Great Lakes were pretty crappy due to a previous snow storm and it was still dark, so I got lost again. But I made it to the base with plenty of time to spare.

There was a marching band made up of recruits and a few speakers, but when the graduating class of over 300 marched it, it was pretty dramatic. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half with all the new sailors standing at either rest or attention the whole time.

When it was over the audience was able to go down onto the drill deck with the sailors and that's where I found my son. He looked so great in his dress uniform and he gave me the biggest and strongest hug I ever had. After some pictures and more hugs, we went over to the Navy Exchange there on base where they have a couple of fast food places. Since it was his first pizza in two months, the new sailor wolfed it down fast. We all (His mother, sister, half-brother, and mother's boyfriend) just sat there in the restaurant talking and catching up. Before it was time to leave (He had to report back to his compartment since he was shipping out that night), we picked up some souviniers and stuff and said our goodbyes. His mother and them were driving back home to Pennsylvania that afternoon, so they took their time goodbying. Since Corwin was flying out of O'Hare to his next duty station and he would have about 3 hours to kill there, I met him at the airport later that day.

Just as I was finding a parking spot, he called me to tell me he was there. I met up with him and we were just walking around seeing things and bullshitting. We both were hungry so we went about finding a restaurant. When you're not looking for them, there's fast food joints all over O'Hare, but we couldn't find them. After walking around some more we ended up at the Hilton Hotel restaurant. Fancy place but after graduation I went back to the hotel and changed into jeans and a t shirt and that's probably why we were seated in the back.. Corwin was still in his dress uniform so he looked OK.

After dinner it was time for him to board his plane and I was allowed to go with him to the gate. We talked for awhile and when they announced his plane was boarding, we hugged and I told him how proud I am of him and that I love him very much. And then he was gone.