Before You Leave for Bootcamp

December 9, 2009

Dear Alex,

I know you don’t do emotional stuff well, and that is pretty much what I am made of!
But the days that you are going to be home are getting fewer and there are some things I wanted to say before you leave.

I have gained so much respect for you these past few months. I have always been proud of you – I am your mother and extremely biased! But in these past months watching your determination and conviction on entering the Marines I have realized the man you are becoming.

It has been my “job” these past 20 years to teach you to stand on your own two feet, to explore the world, to protect you from life’s hurts – both physical and emotional. I was given the task to guide you into making right choices and knowing when you made a wrong one to learn from it. I have loved you unconditionally and as deeply as any mother could love her child. Your birth was a gift that I had longed for, for so many years.

I have completed my task. You have taken a stand and decided where you want your life to go. You are ready for the challenge that will come – both physically and emotionally. You have made a choice that many questioned yet you knew it was the right one and have never waivered. And it has made me love you more.

These next weeks will be challenging ones. When sometimes you question this decision know that I am with you nodding that it is the right choice. When your body is tired and aching know that I am with you comforting you and pushing you forward. I believe in you more than I ever could before.

It is time to let the child that I have nurtured and held on to all these years go. Instead I will gain a son that has become a man, a Marine. In the coming weeks, after you have completed this task you will give me a gift. I will become one of the lucky ones who can wear the title of “Marine Mom” with pride.

As I said, I know you don’t do emotion well, and that is all I am made of. I know how you feel and that is all that matters.

Semper Fi Alex, Semper fi.

Love Mom