Sending my son to the Navy

Yesterday I drove Nick to the Navy recruiting office so he could leave for boot camp. I had such mixed feelings. I was so glad to so him go and get out of my house. He had been lounging without a job since the end of August. He didn't try hard enough to get a temporary job and must have had enough saved from his camp counselor job he could be a goof-off.

Nick is 26. He joined because he was doing nothing with his life.

I was sending him off to learn to do a dangerous job. As I hugged and kissed him good-bye I was thinking about how parents feel sending a kid off to Iraq. I'm lucky but who knows what will happen in the next 6 years.

He doesn't stay in touch much, but now I'll never hear from him. He tested high on his aptitude tests that he was offered a post as a missile tech on a nuclear submarine. It is a volunteer post and he will have special psychological testing to determine if he can handle being on a sub. He'll make more money and when he gets out he will be eligible for high paying work in the private sector.

Nick was always a difficult kid and he turned into the grown-up version of the kid who screams and throws a temper tantrum in the grocery store. The one who punched his brother (two broken bones and a facial burn) and never got along with his little sister. But then, that worked both ways with his sister. Both of his siblings were glad to see him go. I had to make them stop telling "Nick" stories about what a jerk he was. As his mom, I see his negatives, but I love him too much to hold them against him. I told Allie and Greg that I would always love him no matter what he did, except maybe commit murder. But I would have to be in that situation before I could be sure how I would feel.

Nick will be having the worst two weeks of his life according to his recruiter. I'm sorry for him, but he got himself into it. The best part is that he has to quit smoking. I curious to see if 9 weeks of not smoking will cure him. I really doubt it. He won't get to drink and Nick does love his alcohol. Harvey and I had to hide our alcohol in our house to keep him from drinking it. I admitted a long time ago my son was an alcoholic. He never agreed. Really, only his opinion is the one that counts. You can't make someone stop.

I have started looking at the military in a completely different way now. Two of my uncles were in the Navy, but that seems so long ago. I have to admit I am proud that I have a son in the military. That surprises me a lot. I'm just glad that he won't be on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Wow, I feel better now that I have written this! I'll post something in a few weeks when I hear from him. I made sure to have our family pics taken.