It's Official

My Son has been sworn in with the Army. He will no longer be coming here for a visit so we can celebrate his upcoming birthday. I'm disappointed, that goes without having to be said. He's sorry that he's disappointed me, yet at the same time, he's looking forward to making something of himself. Don't get me wrong, I'm also looking forward to seeing what this can be for him. It's a great opportunity for him to really become something he's never dreamed of and he can go places and see things (good or bad) that he'd never had an opportunity to do. He's going into the medical field and when he comes out, I believe he'll be a nurse. They gave him a huge sign on bonus that if he had turned that down to still come here, I would have probably smacked him for being stupid. He leaves May 9th for basic training and will be at Fort Benning, Georgia. After Basic Training, he'll then go to one of two medical training facilities in Texas for his AIT. That training will last for 16 weeks. Once he has completed his basic training and AIT, he'll have a 30 day leave. Only 10 days of that leave are personal days. He'll be required to spend several weeks back at the recruiting office talking to other Army hopefuls. He's not excited about doing that though. Since he'll only have 10 personal days, he'll come here and spend most of them with me. I'll more than likely be driving him back to Canton so he can see his sister and nieces and nephew. (He hasn't seen his sister since he moved to Florida a year and a 1/2 ago and hasn't seen his nephew or new niece at all yet). I'll be able to travel to Georgia to see him graduate from basic training at the end of his 9 weeks there. His 10 personal days to come here won't be until sometime mid or late November. I told him last night when I spoke with him, that the next time I see him, he'll be a buffed up soldier. I doubt he has any real concept of what he's really in for. I now get to be one of those parents that drives around with a bumper sticker stating that I'm a Proud Parent of an Army soldier.