It has been nearly 3 weeks since Will left for Basic Training.
It feels like forever. It feels like he just left yesterday.
Time is weird.
On the day that he left, I kept my phone in my hand the entire afternoon and evening. I knew his plane took off around 1:00ish, so I started being phone crazy around 3. At 4:45, he sent me a text to let me know their plane had landed in Oklahoma. That was bonus communication no. 1.
My friend, Michelle, invited me out to get a treat that evening, but I asked her for a raincheck, because I was so paranoid I'd miss the official one-and-only phone call from my boy.
He called at 10:00 that night. But, it wasn't the official phone call. It was bonus communication no. 2! It was 11 pm for him, and the recruits were all sent to bed without doing the shake-down. So, he was able to call me and actually TALK about how things were going for him. Oh, that made me so happy!!! He couldn't talk for long, because it was 11 pm and they had to get up at 4 am. He did say he spent most of the evening lining up in various places and "getting yelled at a lot". He sounded happy.
The official phone call came at 3:30 our time the following morning. At 4:30 for him, the Drill Sergeants stood over all the recruits and listened to them as they recited a canned speech about arriving safely and surrendering their phones, I love you and goodbye. And, that was it. I could hear many other voices in the background saying the same thing into their phones as Will was saying it to me.
I just said "I love you, I love you, I love you" over and over just before he hung up.
And, that was it.
On July 9th, I got bonus communication no. 3! Helena and I were out and about shopping when I got a phone call from Will! I am so grateful that I had my phone in my hand at that moment, because I would have been so upset if I had missed the call! It was another canned speech about "crossing the tracks" from Processing to Basic. Again, I just said "I love you, I love you, I love you!"
So, now I am phone obsessed. My kids always complained that it was impossible to get me on the phone because I never hear it ring. Not anymore. I guarantee, if you call, I will notice it, now. They were supposed to be granted a holiday phone call home on the 4th of July, but someone in the formation swore and wouldn't fess up to it, so they all lost phone privileges. I never know when a phone call might be granted, so I have to be prepared!
Now, about those letters.
I started writing letters on the very first day he was gone. I had no way to mail them to him, of course, but that didn't stop me. I had at least 12 letters piled up before I actually got an address, so his first packet of mail was slightly fat. :)
Will's first two letters home were short, upbeat, and awesome. The first two letters were from Processing, or just after. The third letter is the one that tore at my heartstrings.
His most recent letter said that he felt sick. Physically, that is. And homesick. Oh, that just tore me to pieces. When he wrote that letter, he hadn't received any letters from home yet, because that is the frustrating fact of snail mail. Your communications with each other often cross paths.
Let me back up. His homesick letter was written on the 12th. The day before he went to church. On Sunday the 13th, I got a phone call from a service missionary member (an Elder Tomani) in the church there who told me that Will had come to church, filled out the information form, and checked the box asking that they call his family to let us know he was doing alright. (This was bonus communication no. 4!) Elder Tomani is the one who was able to give me Will's mailing address. I mailed his big packet of 12+ letters the very next morning, the 14th. (Will's first letter hadn't had a return address on it, because when he wrote it, he was still in Processing and didn't have an address to give me.) I didn't get the letter he wrote on the 12th (about feeling sick) until the 16th.
Can you see the frustration in all this?
In this digital age, it is difficult dealing with snail mail.
But mostly, it is difficult being the Mom and being so far away in space and time that I didn't know my son was feeling sick until 4 days after the fact. Was he running a fever? Was it just fatigue and muscle soreness? Was it something he ate? Was it his body adjusting to new germs/environment? Was there a way for him to report feeling sick without getting chewed out by a Drill Sergeant? Is he now feeling better?
I don't know the answers to any of those questions. I haven't gotten another letter from him since.
I do trust the Army to look out for my son. I trust my son to do what needs to be done.
I just hate snail mail. And I love getting letters from him!
Snail mail is weird.
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