Almost there

Hard to believe but it's almost time, 5 more days. He's had a quick test today involving running, sit and push-ups and passed that without any problems. He got directions to where we need to take him and will get a list of things he should be bringing with him. That list will be fairly short since they are to travel light and will be getting all Army gear after in processing. 
Tuesday we will take him up to Tampa where he will be spending the night with other future soldiers at a special hotel. This is where we'll drop him off and say our good-byes. Then we'll head back home and he will get to bed early since his night will be over at 4:30 am. I don't know exactly when their flight leaves at this time, but it'll be sometime Wednesday morning I'm sure. Sometime in the afternoon he should arrive at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. where his in-processing begins. I've heard that usually takes between 4-6 days and then the real basic training will begin. 
Of course I don't know the details but my blog won't end once he leaves, so everyone reading here will learn more along the way - just like I will.

10 days to go

So the longest wait for him is just about over. His room is all packed into different categories, things to be donated, things to keep for a later life, things he might want us to send once he has his first permanent duty station and things that can go in the trash.
He spends time with us, spends time with his friends and last night we spend time all together. We rented a home and threw him a going away/ early birthday surprise party - and boy was it a surprise. Not until about the last hour or so before did he know something was going on, but he had no clue what. That in part was due to his great friends who managed to keep their mouth shut and get him were he needed to be in the afternoon, I sure appreciated their help.
So many people came by too which made me very happy and hopefully showed him that people do care about him and what he is about to do. A lot of our friends that have known Erich for quite some time now, a lot of his friends, some from when he went to High School here and some that are a little newer but still pretty close - they all were a great bunch of young people.


Next week I'll be making a few more of his favorite dishes and next weekend we'll let him decide what he wants to do and how he wants to spend it. Tomorrow we should find out more details about where and when to drop him off on the 5th and I'm guessing the next few days will pass quickly. 

Cinco de Mayo

Today I took the 5th of May off from work. The 5th of May is my sisters birthday, as well as my bosses birthday and of course Cinco de Mayo, none of which is the reason I won't be around that day. That day will be reserved for taking Erich and his one backpack to Tampa, to take him to MEPS, to drop him off and say good-bye. That's the day his life will change more then it ever has before, the day the biggest decision he's ever made for himself will come into effect. It's the day he will be heading to Fort Leonard Wood, MO for Basic Training and AIT. 
We won't know when we'll hear from him next at this point. Won't know how long his in-processing will take and when the actual training will begin. Won't know when he'll be able to call or write, really won't know much for a while. But that's something we'll have to get used to since in the Army nothing is ever really sure to far ahead of time.


But right now he's still here and we're trying to spend as much time with him as possible. His dad does things with him like playing pool, I'm watching movies with him and cooking him is favorite foods - spoiling him a little more for the next couple of weeks after which no more spoiling will be done for quite some time ;-).

One month away

Today it's actually exactly one month away from when we will either drop him off at the recruiters or at the MEPS station, depending on what he prefers - we haven't talked about that yet. Of course this date will only remain intact if he can stop hurting himself like he did last Friday when he rolled his ankle off a curb and almost broke it - luckily he did not and it's healing quite nicely, even if it does have all the colors possible ;)
So anyway, the time has come for him to start packing up his room, to decide what he might want to keep for later on or what he wants to get rid of because he won't ever use it again. Time has come to think about him only being home for the occasional vacation or holiday. Time has come to realize that this is real, and I'm not talking about him leaving the nest, all children do eventually and I've never been a mother to cling on to her child to hard. I've let him go before, but somehow that was different. Although it was during an incredibly tough time I didn't try to talk him out of moving back to Michigan, I figured he'd be back within a couple for month. He wasn't and even though things were then very hard for him in Michigan I didn't try to talk him into coming back either and sure enough, 10 months later he did move back.
This time he will move out and be out for a signed up 6 years if all goes well, and of course we hope that all goes well, and after those 6 years he'll either continue with the Army or he'll be moving lord knows where, he'll be 27 then and possibly have his own family by then. 

And it's not just that he's moving out, again - I do know how to let go, I had to do it enough throughout my life. It's more about where he's going that's making me worry. Oh not so much the first few month, I know he'll do fine through BCT and school, but what about after that? I will have to learn to let those thoughts go and just see this as the new part of his life that it is, with all the risks and growth it entails. I'm sure I will have good and bad days and I'm hoping to hear as much from his as possible, it'll help to know how he's doing.

One month away......so many things to take care of beforehand, to say, to do, to organize......so little time really.