Word of the Day

Barium: What doctors do when treatment fails.

I'm back into blue jeans. The balmy temperatures for yore have dipped to the frigid temperatures of today. We've gone from the upper 80's down to the lower 50's. I'm even wearing a sweatshirt this morning. My shorts are back in the drawer.

Making a Marine Update

Only 17 more days until my daughter becomes a Marine. But these days are crucial. I woke up at midnight Arizona time. With the time difference, this was the time that my daughter and her platoon left for Crucible. Crucible is the final test. It's a pass/fail test. Having gone through 10 weeks of training to get to this point. Failure is not an option. The following is an excerpt from an article written about The Crucible.

The Crucible emphasizes trainee teamwork under stress. Recruits get eight hours of sleep during the entire 54 hour exercise. They get two-and-a-half MREs and they are responsible for rationing out the food to themselves. Then we put them through tough physical activities like road marches and night infiltration courses. They march about 40 miles in those 54 hours. It isn't long before the recruits are tired and hungry, but as they keep going they realize they can call on reserves they never knew they had. Some of these recruits do things they never thought they could do. Some of them come from middle-class homes where everything has been handed to them. Others come from poorer homes where nothing was ever expected of them. If they finish the Crucible, they have accomplished something. One recruit put it best. "I am going to finish this," he said. "And when I do, it will be the most positive thing I have done in my life."

Someone posted this on the Parris Island Support Board and I thought I'd share it here on my blog. Our future Marines may not have that "awesome" Marine haircut, but I sure have been hovering by my daughter's shoulder and humping right by her side and if I could take away just one of those bruises or ease her sore ankles, I would. I can hardly wait to meet this new Marine.

A Mom's Crucible

When you awoke this morning to begin the crucible,
Did you know I walked every step with you that was possible?
When you humped all those miles over rough terrain,
Did you know I was by your side again?

When the rations were low, and your belly was hungry,
Did you know that I wished it wasn't you, but instead it was me?
When your feet ached and blistered from the stress,
Did you know that I was carrying you deep in my chest?

When you were tired and sore and almost ready to fall,
Did you realize I would have carried it all?
When you had little sleep and your eyes were red,
Did you know I would have given you my bed?

When you had to push and pull for that extra mile,
Did you know that I was so proud and so tall, with such a big smile?
When you went to boot camp, I went to one too.
It's the one where moms worry over all you go through.

I couldn't eat dessert, knowing that you had no treats.
I felt guilty for wanting a pedicure, when you had tired feet.
I anguished over every tough moment I thought you had.
I cried when I missed you, I cried when I was sad.

I cried over your letters, that declared your love for "mom".
I cried over thinking about the day you come home.
I cringed if I thought someone was yelling at you
Even though I know its what they had to do.

I lost a lot of sleep just wondering how you are.
I prayed, and thought, and even wished upon a star.
Now you're almost through, and soon you will be
One of the few, the proud, a new Marine.

I get an honor too for going through the boot camp for moms
I get to hug you and hold you in my arms
I get to see how handsome you really are
I get to see my bright and shining star.

No I don't get a medal, or a pin to wear
I don't get to sport that awesome Marine hair.
My reward is one that can't be seen
Its called "being the mom of a U.S. Marine."

*****

I've got three children. I think all Mothers go on Crucibles with each of their children. It doesn't matter if in the end they're a Marine or something else that will make them happy. Don't think that I've forgotten any one of my children in my concern for the one. It may not seem like it but my prayers are said for every one of my children. I am proud of them all.

Murphyism of the Day

Kierkegaard's Observation

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward.