<p>This is for parents of new cadets as well as parents with returning cadets. I share this with the parents of new cadets in hopes that, during this period of painful separation, they will take some comfort knowing that the pain will subside and that it is well worth it. For both them and their new cadet.</p>
<p>Our "plebe-no-more" son left this morning to return for Cadet Field Training (CFT). My wife and I commented how different the feelings were this morning from those felt on R-Day. A relatively minor twinge of sadness was felt as we dropped him off at the airport (He didn't want to be escorted to the security area). This replaced the tears and gut-retching separation pains felt last year after the 90 second sendoff at Ike Hall.</p>
<p>Do I love our son any less? Of course not. Instead, I have come to realize that my son has found a home at West Point. He loves the emancipation that USMA provides him. Despite the complaints about life at the South Hudson Institute of Technology, I can tell he takes great pride when he shares his stories with his friends and they incredulously shake their heads and tell him, "I can't believe you put up with that stuff?"</p>
<p>His wide-eyed fear of the unknown on R-day has been transformed into an eagerness to "get back with his buddies". While he loved his sleep-in time during leave, he admitted that he was ready to go back and was excited about the upcoming CFT activities. He feels a real purpose to his life.</p>
<p>As a parent, I have seen my son mature physically, academically and emotionally during the last year. I compared a picture of him on R-day with a current photo and could hardly believe only a year had passed.</p>
<p>I about fell over when he asked if there was any work around the house that needed his attention. Twenty cubic yards of mulch later, he was still willing to take on more work. I even overheard a conversation he had with a "civilian" friend during which he commented, "I can't believe how much time you guys waste".</p>
<p>While he is still (and always will be) my son, our relationship has shifted to a level of greater parity. He physically carries himself differently and projects a self-confidence not present a year ago. My boy has begun his journey as a man. He is not unique in his new maturity. I believe it is a common part of the West Point experience.</p>
<p>God bless all the cadets and their supportive families.</p>
<p>Amen, aspen! We certainly have come a long way in the past year. Oh, yeah, so have all our kids. ;) Right, shogun? I dropped my daughter off at the airport this morning without going inside the terminal also. I'm sad, but no tears. Quite unlike the major rehydration effort on R-Day...</p>
<p>Thats ok. I just cried for you. LOL Aspen KILLS me. I've decided not to even go to the airport to pick my kid up when he comes in next week. Just thought Dad & he would like some "alone" time without well... you know... ME JABBERING! :) Sure is a big old change from 1/2 a year ago when I HAD to be there. I think it helps that towards the later half of the year, you get to speak with them more so you end up ok. It is a different feeling. It seems like just yesterday that he was picking me up and swinging me out of the way to get the front seat on the way to I-Day. And picking me up and twirling me around right in the middle of The Grinder during Parent's Week-end. Then picking me up, swinging me around in the airport that first visit home. Think I'll just stay home & hope that he's out-grown picking me up all the time... I haven't missed that...</p>
<p>For old-timers around CC, the ones that have been through a full cycle, it has indeed been an amazing year.
Son is home right now, awaiting orders for his grey-hull cruise later this summer. . .
I'm not sure there are words to describe how much he has grown and how this been a wonderful year.
Let me think about it.</p>
<p>I hope not Shogun. Aspen's son probably has a bit more class. I told my son that every time he does this, he reminds me of Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies & to please knock it off. Doesn't seem to phase him because he's been doing this for five years now.... I should buy a tazer.</p>
<p>Shogun, the closest I got to a twirl was when my son showed me one of the grappling takedown moves he learned this Spring. You're right about the tears last year. I'm still under doctor's orders to drink at least one beer a day to replenish my lost fluids.</p>
<p>Jamzmom. Something tells me there are still a lot of twirls, and jabbering, in your future.</p>
<p>Bill. Sorry if I didn't see you post it previously, but where's your son headed when his Greylines tour leaves this summer? </p>
<p>MOT. Did you slow down to let her off at the airport or did she practice the "jump and roll" technique to prepare for CFT?</p>
<p>Thanks for the warm hearted perspective you have shared with the parents of our soon to be cadets (AFA at this house). As the days slip by us, our young men (and women) will soon leave home just as your son did. There are time I just want to ring his neck as he taunts his 13 year old little brother! .....Can someone please tell me my son is not the only one getting their last jabs in before they go?.............
I finally got my son to write the last few thank-you notes for graduation gifts. You would have thought I was asking him to cut the entire yard with hand clippers!<br>
My husband and I leave in six hours for our last full "Family Vacation" before the AF has total control of our son's calander.<br>
Keep the stories coming. I truely enjoy them! :)</p>
<p>My son popped home briefly last night having just returned from a month in Alaska. He will head out on the Eagle today for six weeks in the Caribbean.
It's hard to believe just a year ago he was reporting to the CGA as a swab. Now he is a 3/c cadet and has visited Spain, Portugal, Alaska, and soon Bermuda and Puerto Rico, not to mention the Palmetto State!
He hasn't changed much personality-wise but he has matured and grown as a person. He knows he made the right choice.</p>
<p>Picked up D at SLS yesterday. As we drove out, she looked at the cars coming in and said knowingly, "yuks coming back for Buckner". And I thought of all of you.</p>
<p>Thanks, parents, for sharing all this. Two years behind you in the chute, and glad to see that it gets better. Also particularly pleased to see all of your kids flourishing.</p>
<p>My DD is at USNA and will enter her youngster year this fall. She has been in San Diego until yesterday when the ship finally left port on its way to Pearl Harbor. I know what you mean about the feelings changing as we accept that they really are becoming adults now. I had the realization last year after her NAPS year that she really was never going to live here again. Sure, she has her room and comes home to visit; but not much and that's all it really is now; a visit. She hasn't been home since Christmas and I haven't seen her since February. Definitely getting itchy to see her (ok, so itchy that we are flying to Hawaii to meet her. LOL). But after each passing year, their maturity and security in their decision becomes apparent and it somehow eases the pain of their leaving. </p>
<p>Good luck to all new and returning Service Academy students. We are all so proud of you AND your parents.
God Bless.
Tricia</p>
<p>Wow - can't believe a year has gone for these kids- Boss, Jm, Aspen MOT el al- thinking back to your posts this time last year and how much encouragement they provided! Best of luck with year 2!</p>
<p>Right behind ya- T-9 days and counting! The nerves are setting in!</p>
<p>Great posts! Good to see all the old screennames from last year. </p>
<p>Didn't realize after R-day last year how much we'd see of our son his Plebe year. I still remember tearing up standing in his room the day after we dropped him off. He did well and had lots of passes. Used them until lacrosse season started. Living only 50 miles from West Point is a real advantage. </p>
<p>We dropped him off at Camp Buckner on Friday. Our house still looks like a staging area. He laid out all of the stuff he might bring - and what he wanted to bring for Reorgy Week in August. He filled one small duffle bag - all the rest is still sitting in our living room and dining room. </p>
<p>I have to tell those of you who haven't actually been to Camp Buckner that it looks just like a summer camp. And a nice one at that. On a lake, well-kept barracks, rifle range, rappeling, etc. I kept telling my son that he should have to pay the Army for the summer. I wanted to stay. He was a little glum/quiet on the drive up (about 55 minutes). I asked what was wrong - he said he didn't have a problem with what he had to do at Buckner this summer but it was what he would be missing with his buddies, i.e. carrousing til 3 a.m. every night, playing video games, playing golf, pick-up lacrosse games, 2 a.m. diner trips (we do live in NJ), and his attic palace room with his big-screen HDTV (bought with hockey teacher earnings). Once we got through the gate and drove up to his barracks to drop him off, his spirits lifted. He started to see some of his buddies. Loaded his gear on his back and off he went with an air kiss to his mother and me.</p>
<p>He called at 10 p.m. on Friday evening - said he was just checking to see if his cellphone worked - he sounded great, very enthusiastic and happy. Cellphone worked for a few minutes and then the signal died and he was gone. </p>
<p>On a more somber note, let's all pray for the two soldiers who've been "captured" in Iraq. I only wish the Army had some need for this 51-year old.</p>
<p>Well, I started thinking that it's time to pull back from cc. I tried going cold turkey this weekend. I thought that maybe it's just time to turn the reins over to 2010 parents. I'm getting busier with some other activities and started a new job that will be intense. But, I surrender. And what was the catalyst? My son, who is a rising junior in high school, is leaving Tuesday morning for a 4-week backpacking trip through Maine, Vermont upstate New York and Canada. Then he'll be a junior counselor in Minnesota for another 4 weeks. He'll be back in town 2 days before cross country practice begins. I mentioned that we'd have to start looking casually at colleges right after the season ended. Maybe we'll go visit a few schools over weekends. And since he'll be gone as a full-time junior counselor for the entire summer of 2007, we really will have to spend time identifying the schools so that we can visit during his junior year spring break. To my shock and surprise, :rolleyes: he wasn't too enthusiastic about beginning the college search. His only question was, "Will I be able to fit in that summer program at West Point?" What!???! Am I perhaps going to end up going through this process again? :eek: How can I do it without cc? </p>
<p>Anyway, I like it here too much to quit. I actually wonder about how everybody is doing? And I have to find out how Buckner goes for all the rising yuks. I want to know how Beast goes for the New Cadets. Which parents cried the most at R-Day and A-Day? What company will the plebes be a part of? No matter which company it is, it will definitely be the toughest one. ;) Which of this year's SLS participants will be applying for the class of 2011? And who will receive appointments? Will my daughter or shogun's, or aspen's or BigGreen's sons be cadre for them during Beast? Which of the applicants for the class of 2010, still on the NWL, will reapply next year? How quickly will TN's new board grow? Will anyone walk away during or right after Beast? Or are the cc kids more committed? Will Mrgreenapple provide needed leadership to his classmates during Beast? I bet he will. How will the troops he's leaving fare? What an incredibly small, special world we're in and I hope we can all be part of it together for a while longer! </p>
<p>And, aspen, I pulled in behind a bus that had a lot of people to unload at the terminal. That way, I'd get an extra minute or two.</p>
<p>MOT: Glad you decided to stay with CC. I'm sure the new plebes/parents will benefit from your experience. And us "old screennames" will continue to enjoy your participation. </p>
<p>Navy2010: Only about a week to go until I-day!! Hard to believe.
Thanks again for your willingness to serve our country.</p>
<p>BigGreen: I also had a terrible feeling of sadness and anger when I heard about our captured servicemen. One of them is deployed from nearby Ft. Campbell. I will include them and their families in my prayers.</p>
<p>MOT: I too had been backing away from the CC; I mean, my kid is doing great at USNA and many of the questions are repetitive anyway. On a lazy day, however, it is a magnet . . . cheap drama.
Youth at its belligerent best. [or worst]
Youth at its best.
Old age at its best and worts.</p>
<p>Ethos, Pathos, Logos . . . all wrapped up in one neat little package.
You can't believe there are people out there who really care about anonymous strangers in the way that they seem to care about anonymous strangers. [Not to mention caring about what they think.] Do some of the people who post herien really, truly believe what they are writing?
Amazing.</p>
<p>So, I keep coming back. So should you.
In an odd sort of way, I am curious about the various kids on here that started their journey a year ago.
JM's kid at USMMA. Aspen's kid at USMA. Boss's kid at USCGA. [Did I mix any of them up?]
USNA09 -- our goofy semi-liberal out west who's girl is at USNA. The newcomer Peske, who still seeks the good out in everybody around her. [Even when she gets beat down for a well-intended post.] Even ol' KateLewis popped back in . . .</p>
<p>Its cheap entertainment from time to time and curiousity will bring you back . . .</p>
<p>
[quote]
His only question was, "Will I be able to fit in that summer program at West Point?" What!???! Am I perhaps going to end up going through this process again?