I walked outside this morning, Saturday the 29th of May at 0555 and the air here was a cool and crisp 68 degrees... not too humid. The moon was stunning in the pre-dawn light and I thought of Sara, seeing the same moon on some form of running or drilling and the lovely loud yelling voices in her life right now. It is currently 72F in Parris Island according to my iPhone so a good morning for some exercise I suppose.
So, now it's Monday in my mind again (will I ever get this caught up to current?) and I am sitting at the desk in Sara's now neat and clean room (hmmmm!) and Mom is lying on the futon next to the desk. We are waiting.
[Excerpt from marineparents.com]
***
Parris Island, South Carolina: As the air brakes hiss, hearts beat faster, palms sweat, breaths become shorter and a bus of hopeful recruits are unified by the fear of the unknown. These are the experiences of so many recruits who have passed through Parris Island’s main gate. Upon arriving, recruits are greeted by a drill instructor and ordered to get off the bus and onto Parris Island’s legendary yellow footprints. These are the words all recruits hear once they are on the yellow footprints: “You are now aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island South Carolina, and you have just taken the first step toward becoming a member of the world’s finest fighting force, the United States Marine Corps.”
While standing on the yellow footprints, the recruits also receive a brief on how to stand at the position of attention, the difference between civilian laws and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, what it means to be a Marine and finally how thousands of Marines have stood on those very same yellow footprints before they have.
A senior drill instructor with Receiving, gives them their first taste of recruit training.
"Look forward, feet at a 45-degree angle, thumbs along your trouser seams," she shouts to them. "This is the only position you will be in when addressing a Marine, sailor or civilian during your stay on Parris Island."
The DI isn't joking, but one recruit makes the mistake of laughing.
"Shut up," she shouts. "You think this is a game?"
She orders the recruits to line up and center on her silver doors, males on the right, females on the left. The doors read, "Through these portals pass prospects for America's finest fighting force."
"You will only pass through these doors once," she tells them. "Now get in and place your right hip against my desk."
The laughing recruit wasn't laughing anymore. She was shaking.
"Give me your last name, initials and the last four of your social," she ordered.
"Santos," she said in a barely audible voice.
"Someone said whisper to me, huh," the DI asked. "Shout!"
"Aye ma'am," Santos answered.
The volume still wasn't there, and several other drill instructors made their way to the quiet recruit.
"Shout recruit," said another senior drill instructor for Receiving. "Shout."
She broke. Within 30 minutes of her arrival on Parris Island, Santos was crying.
The first hour is so intense that the remaining recruits weren't doing much better.
However, their initial encounter was not nearly as emotionally challenging as their short, to-the-point phone call home.
Although Receiving is a psychological and emotional roller coaster ride, its purpose is much simpler - prepare the incoming recruits for training.
***
Whew!... so at 10:30p the phone rings and I quick click on speaker after yelling, "here it is!" Emotions betray my ability to keep them in check again.
By 10:43p the following was posted on Sara's and my facebook.
"Sara's arrival to Parris Island phone call came just moments ago: At the top of her voice (a lot of yelling going on in the background) we heard...'This is marine recruit S-----s calling to advise you that I have arrived to Parris island safely. You will hear from me in seven to nine days. Please do NOT send any food or bulky items' CLICK... and I mean CLICK ... Go get 'em Sara. The journey of not hearing her voice begins."
I was glad that I had seen the video clips of the recruits standing on the yellow foot prints waiting in line to make this call and the complete by-the-numbers control of the situation by their new "best friend" drill instructors. I chuckled and cried and chuckled as I imagined my Sara in that position. The noise of girls yelling into phones and drill instructors yelling at them validated my imagination.
The FB comments following this post by current Marines (Sara's FB) and moms and dads and former military on my FB were touching and encouraging. It is most interesting to have become a part of this new community of understanding and relationships surrounding the armed forces. I never felt such camaraderie tied to such strong emotion. So many comments of support and congratulations. So proud of my Sara!
She won't sleep tonight for sure as she gets run around in her skivvies processing processing processing and being totally immersed in the beginnings of the "forming" process.
Well, back to the present. Now the sun is streaming in through my window and my Cheryl has brought me my favorite hot tea. As I close, I note the temp here is up to 70F and for Sara it's already up to 77F. I wonder if she enjoyed her MRE or maybe she got a permission slip and snuck out to Cracker Barrell for some blueberry pancakes... yeah, that's probably about right... :)
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