My Trip to Fort Jackson, SC

There are times in your life where you know that you know things. Such as there is war in the Middle East. Men and women, children are dying in this war. Military personnel and civilians. We all know that. How personally has it hit you that a member of the armed forces has died?

When we went to South Carolina to see Michael graduate, naturally we left out of the DFW Airport. As we were going through security, we came upon and intermingled with about 6 Air Force soldiers in their Class A uniforms. I had one to my right and one to my left. I was so excited to see Michael graduate that I had chatted up a storm to the soldier on my right.

I asked, "Where are you headed?"

Him: "I wish I could tell you we were going to have a blast. We're not, though."

Me: "Are you shipping to Afghanistan?"

Him: "No, ma'am. We're escorting one of our own home. We all here, in this group, stayed with him until the very end. Two of us will escort him all the way home to Baltimore. The rest of us are here for the ceremony at the aircraft."

The tears came immediately. Then the soft sobs.

Me: "I'm so very sorry."

The last thing I said that was intelligable was, "Thank you for what you've done for us."

I'm not sure why I get so emotional when it comes to patriotic events. It could be a parade, it could be the 4th of July. It could be Veteran's Day. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen soldiers in the DFW airport, I cry.

This day, I couldn't control myself.

I walked over to the chair where Greg was getting his shoes put on and he looked at me with the most puzzled look on his face. He couldn't figure out what made me cry so hard. It took me nearly 30 before I could tell what I'd just experienced. All he could do was hug me.

The thought that was going through my head continuously was, "Oh Dear Lord, please keep his family close to you. They are going to need your guidance." I also realized that here we are, Greg, Shane, Kelci and myself are going to watch our oldest son, brother and boyfriend graduate from BCT at Fort Jackson, SC. We are going to SEE him graduate. We get to hug him. We get to see him smile. We get to laugh and create more memories.

This Air Force Soldier's family is going to see their son in a different light. Somehow it hit me like a medicine ball in the gut and made my stomach not feel so well.

Michael will graduate from AIT as a combat medic (68w). There is a better than great chance he will go to Afghanistan. Talk about reality striking at a moments notice.

Did this prevent us (me, especially) from making memories in Fort Jackson, SC? Nope. I can feel deep sorrow for another's loss while at the same time relish in the pride of Michael's accomplishments. This is what we face when we have a child or relative in the military during war time. Just remember to hug a little tighter, don't go to sleep mad and remember to pray at every spare moment.

It can all change so quickly.

That was just the beginning of our journey. There are so many other stories to tell.