Chris will be permanently stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY (101st Airborne support) as of Sept. 20th. His car is here in Southern Louisiana. I'm checking into auto transporters, and would love to hear from anyone who has shipped a vehicle before-good or bad experiences, please let me know. There are hundreds of companies and/or brokers to choose from, and with the amount of money involved (and my son's precious ride,) I can't afford to hire a third-rate operation.
It's been a rough month. I haven't been writing because-well, lately, the news from Chris has been either very depressing or completely non-existent. When I said he is homesick-that's an understatement. He's been able to call his friends, and I'm sure the images of them going to the movies, staying up all night, talking on the phone, and sleeping late are tormenting him. Pay attention kids: stay in school! The thing is, Chris probably would have joined the Army regardless of his scholastic outcome...it's what the men in my family do. But, I'm sure he would have preferred waiting until all of his buddies were on their ways to whatever adult ventures lie ahead of them. (Maybe a couple would have even enlisted with him!) But, as I've had to point out to him, we live the consequences of our actions. When you drop out of school, you don't get to be a teenager anymore. You want to be an adult? You want to be treated like an adult? Then you have to make responsible decisions, work hard, and act like an adult. So, the realization that his childhood is now officially over has fully sunk in. Add to that- there's a whole lot of people in the world that don't especially like our country...particularly our military, and you've got the fixins for a good ol' pity party...and my boy likes his parties! He's also managed to do something to his back, and keeps failing his PT test (a huge source of aggravation for a kid whose physical capabilities have always been rather impressive.) Tonight however, he's found a new reason to get the pity-party rollin': we can't make it to MISSOURI for his extended off-base Labor Day weekend! For those who don't know-I live in Southern Louisiana. That's more than a few miles from Missouri. We (Chris' grandma and I) drove up there for his graduation. It was a long, boring, expensive trip (in case you live in a cave-gas ain't cheap these days!!) I understand Chris wants to get out for a few days. Really and truly, I get that. But even if I wanted to make the drive-I just can't afford it! I hate to hear him so "oh, woesome me"- but, my hands are truly tied on this one. I guess I haven't written much, because he's such a downer to listen to on the phone, I didn't want to bring my 10 readers down with us. Oh well, you take the good with the bad, I guess. ****I've been told he'll probably settle in much better once he gets to his permanent station...oh please let that be true!****
Pvt. Wise is officially in AIT. He is studying to be a construction equipment repairer. So, how's he doing???That's tough to answer. He's finally aware that there is a world outside of his own. And it's a big, dangerous, hateful world. And unlike the gratuitous violence of his video games, or the glorified violence of his favorite rap tunes- the violence of war is real...and it's ugly. And he is an American Soldier serving during a time of war.
He's also realizing that being a teenager in school really wasn't that bad.Maybe he should have spent less time on the phone, and more time studying...maybe lying around the house, bored out of his mind, wasn't such a bad place to be? Maybe that teacher that was always on his case, wasn't so difficult after all? These things he'd never admit, but I imagine they've crossed his mind.In short, he's homesick, and he's scared...but I imagine he's not alone over there.
