My son Stephen left June 16, 2008 for LTC (Army lingo for Leadership Training Course) at Ft Knox, near Louisville, KY. His departure was exactly two months after his Dad (Duane) died. Needless to say, sending your son off to 4 weeks of intensive physical and mental challenges and training is a little hard on a mom with no family military heritage.
Then I received the invitations from the Colonel to attend the Family Day and Graduation Ceremony scheduled for July 12 and 13 which pulled on my mama heart strings. Could I afford it? Should I afford it? Could I handle going by myself? What if I don’t go? All the typical mom worries. My sister’s husband Chuck, a retired army reserve Colonel advised that I skip this event and plan on attending his commissioning in a year or two.
Meanwhile, I only received three very short phone calls while he was gone, one of which was Saturday during the Family time. Friday, I found the web site with all the many pictures of the activities covered including two good ones of Stephen, I can’t resist posting.
These pictures were taken candidly by the army during the One Rope Bridge Steam Crossing Training Event.
Stephen is the short haired boy in glasses. He told me he has had two hair cuts in the four weeks he has been at Ft Knox. When he called Saturday, he informed me that he was graduating “fully qualified” so he will now be able to contract with ROTC when he returns to school this Fall. I am proud Mama for his determination and fortitude inspite of the obstacles our family has been facing. God has been faithful to all of us.
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