Welcome Back From Pir - Navy Proud,kristie,momma Dukes, Jon Bears Mom

[KYmom]

Welcome back from PIR. :woohoo:

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend with your new sailors.

We can't wait to hear all about it. :bigemo52:

[Will'sMom]

Yes, we cannot wait to hear all about it! I've been thinking about all of you this weekend! Way to go sailors!!!!!!!!

Melanie

[Navy_Proud]

Well, this looks like the best place to post my report!!!!! Thanks for the congrats and the welcome back!

Wow, where do I start? A total of 11 friends and family traveled to see Alex graduate from boot camp this past Friday. We arrived at the Great Lakes Recruit Training Command early on Friday morning. After making our way to the drill hall, we found seats together in front of Alex's division area and waited for the event to begin.........my heart was beating out of my chest and I could have easily hyperventilated from the anticipation.

We watched the drums and the flag team perform. They were amazing and this heightened my excitement! We were seated at the far end of the building, in front of the big overhead doors that the Sailors come in through. We kept getting glimpses of the Sailors lined up outside, when a Navy officer would open a door and look out for a second. I could hardly contain myself! Then when they opened those huge doors and we saw the first division there, waiting to march in, we all stood up and clapped and hollered and when they marched in we realized that it was Alex's division 147 leading the way. My daughter and sister said they could see Alex on the outside row but I couldn't find him quick enough before they turned, but then I saw the back of his head! Hooray! I saw my firstborn son again after 8 weeks and 4 days of boot camp!!!! It was so exhilarating and euphoric!!!! And talk about goosebumps! Wow, several times during the ceremony I got huge, mountainous goosebumps! Then during the whole ceremony my heart was beating fast and I teared up numerous times. Then when all the Sailors (including my sister and her husband who were with us and are Navy officers) stood there and sang Anchors Away!!, oh my goodness, I thought I'd lose it right then and there. But I held myself together.

Then when the speaker finally said "Liberty call, Liberty call!" We all spread out from our seats to find our Sailors. Alex looked up at where we were and waved and put one finger up saying, wait a minute. He had to get his raincoat. When they all came in, they were holding their raincoats over their arms and when they were all in place they had one guy at the end of each line walk through and gather up all the coats and put them in the back against the wall. So as it was ending, those guys were handing out the coats again and they weren't yet done when liberty was called. By the time we got down the bleachers and found him, he was headed our way. My husband grabbed him first and then one by one, we all got our hugs and let me tell you there is nothing like it when your new Sailor hugs you tight and smiles big! Nothing like it in the whole wide world. Even though he had one bloodshot and swollen eye, he looked awesome! His eye didn't hurt but it was looking infected. It got better as the day went on and much better the next morning.

As we walked in a crowded line of people on the way to the parking lot we talked and asked questions and just basked in the glory of being around our Alex. Then we went to The Rainforest Cafe in the Gurnee Mills Mall and that was really neat and had awesome food. Afterwards we went back to the hotel and we all just laid around and talked nonstop and laughed ALOT. I'm so happy to say that Alex's sense of humour is indeed still there and even better! We finally had to go to supper so we could get Alex back to base in time to walk back to his ship and shower to be ready by 2100 (9pm). We ate at Arby's and talked and laughed some more. Alex had a headache but of course couldn't take anything for it if it didn't come from the sick bay. We reluctantly said our goodbyes in the parking lot and everyone else left. My husband, 14 year old son, and I dropped him off in front of the base gates at 7:35pm. From my backseat car window I took a couple pictures of him walking past security and heading back to his ship. I got yelled at by a security guard and we had to pull over and I got out of the car and had to delete those pictures while the guard watched me. Apparently you can't take pictures of the entrance to the base. Oops! I didn't know that but of course I was happy to delete only those pics and was thrilled that it wasn't on a regular film camera, which they would have confiscated. At least that excitement took away my sadness of saying goodbye, not knowing if we'd see him again the next morning. I just hoped he hadn't heard his mom being yelled at by security!!!!!

We were at O'Hare hoping to see him when his bus dropped him off on Saturday morning. Lucky us, we were at the right place at the right time. We were able to get temporary security passes to sit with him till his plane departed. For once it was nice to have a flight delay! His plane was 20 minutes late so we had even more time with him and the other two guys that were from his division and another one from his brother division that were on the same flight. They all got something to eat and spent alot of time on the phone. Alex had us to talk to though! When the time came, we shook the other guys hands then hugged Alex one last time before they boarded their plane. It was now 11:20am on Saturday. We watched his plane take off and go out of sight before we headed for home. Alex sent me a text message that he was at Gulfport and he made it there before we had driven home!

Although we were extremely disappointed that we didn't get the whole weekend with him, it could have been much worse. Some of the Sailors departed within three hours of the graduation and couldn't leave the base with their family. We had a whole day with Alex, off the base, and the great thing about being able to see him off at the airport the next morning was giving him his cell phone! He's been texting me alot and he even called me this afternoon!!!! I love it!

Well, I know there's more to tell but the summary of it all is this.....we are extremely proud of the newest Sailor in our family and were filled with patriotism and awe at the ceremony. It was emotional, exhilirating, impressive, and positively fabulous to be in that drill hall and watch 740 fine young men and women complete the first phase of their deeply honorable service to our country. And the best part was seeing my son as one of them. No words can truly describe how I felt, but I hope you were able to catch a small glimpse of how much it meant to be there.

And I did give him a hug from the Navy forum members who've been my lifeline these last few weeks. I only wish I could hug you all as well!

[NCMEDIC]

Great report and a shame he was rushed off. Corey was also rushed off just to sit around for 2 months in Fla. :mad:

Congrats and glad you didn't get the beat down at the gate....lol

[Will'sMom]

Angie, what a great post! I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes and goosebumps -- it sure does bring back some memories. I'm sorry that you didn't get the whole weekend with your son, but it sounds like you had an awesome time. Isn't it great to hear from him via text messages and phone calls -- I still jump when the phone rings and I know that it is my son calling. Glad you all had a great time and thanks for sharing your weekend with us.

Melanie

[Navy_Proud]

Yep, we made the most of what time we had with our son and don't have any regrets. If you'd like to view photos from the weekend, here's the link...........
http://news.webshots.com/album/558861236venymF

Thanks again, you all are the greatest!

[KYmom]

great pics, and enjoyed your report.

[NavyMomx2]

Awesome report and I loved the pictures. So glad you had a good time with him, even if it was short.

[Lynette]

Hi Angie, Thanks for sharing your report of the PIR.....we are all anxious to hear the "stories" when you all returned......it sure did bring tears to my eyes also.....you took some really good pictures and I was cracking up when I saw the ones where Alex is showing how much weight he lost because I took the same picture of my son.....he lost a good 20lbs!, I also took the same picture of dad and son from behind and lastly, the picture of what IT is all about!.....so, my memories are very similar....my son has been in A school in Great Lakes since Oct. last year and will be [COLOR="black"][COLOR="Blue"]finishing up May 18th......he will be stationed in San Diego which is less than 2 hours away....he is soooo excited to be coming home and get out of the cold...we are soo blessed to have him stationed so close to home!.....Alex is going to be soo relieved to be able to call you anytime.... and to think that you can call him just about anytime hes not in school.....Congratulations to you and to Alex also......I can see the Pride! Lynette

[Kristie]

It was wonderful......absolutly awesome....totaly unbelievable...even the second time around....and enjoyed meeting everyone.....I did a seperate post and will have pics up as soon as I can get a moment to breathe.....lol

[Kristie]

Yep, we made the most of what time we had with our son and don't have any regrets. If you'd like to view photos from the weekend, here's the link...........
http://news.webshots.com/album/558861236venymF

Thanks again, you all are the greatest!


I loved the pictures they were wonderful....

[Mommadukes]

Angie,

I loved the pictures but again...was I sleeping at the diner??? lol

I'm glad we got to meet you , Kristie and John Bears mom....it meant to the world to us....and to see them at PIR.....breathtaking!

Dawn

[Mommadukes]

Okay, I've read all of your posts and I was getting chills thinking about that day!

Matthew graduated on 4/27 along with Alex, Jennifer and John Bear....and all I can say is .. wow!!!

The night before the graduation I went to a restaurant to meet some parents, Kristie (Jennifers mom), Angie (Alex's mom) and John Bears Mom. Of course my flight was delayed 4 hours but I did not want to miss meeting the people that have gotten me through the last few months. So although we got there late, we got there and I am so happy I got to meet you all!

The next day, we left the Navy Lodge at 6:30am and the line getting to the gate was long, but I would have sat there all day if I had to. We got through the gate pretty easy, no inspection at all. I know Angie got stuck in there and I'm sure others have too, but for one thing that weekend we were lucky.

We sat down to the side of the sign that said Division 147 (someone on the board told us to do that) and I told Matt I was going to wear a "hot" pink shirt so he could see me. Again, on the board I was told it is so crowded no matter what you do he won't see you...but being a mom I was not going to give up! The first thing Matt said was I saw your shirt! So you know what they can see you...yay!

As I was sitting there, I could not sit still..I was looking around and saw the same expression on so many faces of women in the crowd and I thought we are all so anxious to see our babies after 8 weeks, enough is enough.

Okay so they get ready to pull the doors up and I can feel my heart beating and I'm thinking okay Dawn don't cry yet...nobody's crying...lol..so yeah I held it in and then it happened! The doors opened and what did I see? My baby boy in the second row and my heart stopped. I think I knew it was him as I staring at soliders legs and then his beautiful face just jumped out at me! What a site!

Of course at this time, like Kristie my video was probably of the ceiling cause at that time I hit my husband and said there's Matt...yeah, I just wanted to run down there and grab him...they "all" looked so handsome and so beautiful that it actually took my breath away. And of course as I write this I'm feeling it again...but this time I can cry cause I know I'm not alone, everyone of you have felt this feeling or you will feel it soon.

I saw Alex (Angie's son) on the side row; amazing how I picked him out from one picture...and I would think that when someone is special to your child...they are special to you. So to Alex I would like to say thank you for sharing this time with Matt; you all needed each other and you were all there sharing the same emotions and that is a bond I think they will always have.

I was taping the ceremony, saw the soldiers salute, sing their song and recite their oath.....I waited to hear that one word that I have been waiting for..for 8 weeks....when they said "Liberty" I never moved so fast to get to him. We couldn't find him since he was giving out jackets to the others and then my husband said there he is...and like a magnet he and Matt found each other and embraced each other so hard I never thought they were going to let go. So I waited patiently for my turn and when I finally got my baby in my arms, I cried like a baby! My family was crying and it touched me so much because when you are going through the trials and tribulations of teenagers you sometimes don't realize how precious a gift you have. We were all crying so much that all those hardships and teenage moments were no longer.

We met Matthew's Chief and tried to see others but it was so hectic that we decided to leave. That was a good choice cause as we left the parking lot, the line to get to the cars was very long. I never got to go to the Nex cause that was the last thing Matt wanted to do was stay there.

We went back to the Navy Lodge and Matt got into his clothes and relaxed. The stories he had were really funny and I'm glad we had this time together. Matt got to get on the internet and call his best friend on the phone and that was it, he was so happy to be with us and we were so happy to be with him

We went to Longhorn for dinner, which was very nice but had to get him back to the base for 8:30. He had to be back by 9:00 but we didn't want him to rush and stress out.

The next morning we met him at the airport (yes we only had one day) and when we got there I couldn't find him and then there it was a group of soldiers in their coats carrying their sea bags and uniforms and they all looked so grown up! Where did our children go, they went to bootcamp and came out men and women!!!

American Airlines allows you to go to the gate with them and wait (I found this out on the site also and my husband did not believe me..ha!) so we waiting and when he was getting ready to leave I was walking him to the counter and he whispered...Mom you're scaring me! lol...I thought it was funny..he thought I was going to try to get on the plane with him..

Matt went to Missouri where he was brought to a USO and they had food, computers, phones, TV and couches for them to relax. They sat there for at least 5 hours and then went onto A School.

My family stayed until Monday and explored Chicage (which is beautiful) but it was tough without Matt. We were at the Amerisuites which was really impressive..thanks Kristie!!!

He has called me every night since he left (this is definitely different for me) and we just mailed out his cell phone. So, he's happy, proud, dependent and no matter how much the Navy tries....he will always be my baby boy!

Now finally I am on the other side and I have to tell you, I'm really liking it!!

Good luck to all the upcoming graduates from BC and A School...you all should be very proud!

I know I am!!!

[Navy_Proud]

Welcome home Dawn, Kristie and Carol!!!! I'm so glad we all had great visits with our kids. I can't wait to see your pictures so I can see the fine new Sailors we've been talking about for weeks.

Dawn, sorry I snapped the pic mid-blink! You still look great!!!

[Kristie]

Angie......here is the post you lost......LOLOLOL....oh well we will just chaulk that up to the fever.....hope you are feeling better!

[Navy_Proud]

Hey Kristie, thanks for finding it for me! :kiss:

Yep, I'm sure it was the fever that caused my memory lapse. ;) Thankfully I'm better today. So that gives me hope that Alex will be better soon too.