As our children grow...

I know for myself watching my kids grown into wonderful adults it's been both wonderful and a little sad at the same time. Most parents know exactly what I'm talking about. We see our babies and we wonder how we will ever do this right. Well, most of us (especially me), don't always do it right, but we do the best we can with what we have. I've been so fortunate to have such a wonderful son. He was a joy (although very busy) as a small child and then as a teenager, well, let's just say I was lucky we both survived that (at times), but all in all he was still a great kid. Then just as you think you might have this parent thing figured out, they graduate high school and you realize you just went through the fastest 18 years of your life. You are proud, scared, sad, and anxious all at the same time. Then just when you are wondering what they are going to do with their lives now that they are no longer in school and decide college just isn't for them and at times they are wondering around with what seems to you as though they have no direction, they come home and announce they want to join the Marine Corps. Oh yeah, did I meantion the United States is in the midst of a war in Iraq and Afghanastan? Well, then you feel things all over again like you did the day you brought them home from the hospital. You feel pride, joy, happiness, fear, concern, anxiety and so much more all rolled up into one huge mess of emotion. I have to say of all the hard things I experienced with Chad, watching him get on that bus in Kansas City leaving for the airport to CA for boot camp topped them all until they day in Jan. 2009 when I knew he was boarding a plane for Maine and then Germany on his way to Iraq to fight in this horrible war. Fortunately for us our Chadman made it home safely and then took the next big step in his life by marrying his true love. Now, Chad had never even really had a girlfriend. He didn't date more than once or twice and that was really just a dinner and now he is getting married. Being really the only woman in his life I wasn't sure how I would handle this change or where I would fit in. It was very strange at first and then I realized that now I have a daughter. I have been so lucky to have a daughter that not only loves my son like she does, but has allowed me to be a huge part of their life. It's been difficult with them living in CA, but we try to talk most every day and we have become so much closer since Chad has been away training. There are few things in life that prepare you for these changes with our children and maybe since Mother's Day is around the corner I am feeling a little more nestalgic than normal, but it really made me stop and realize how quickly the last (almost) 22 years have gone by. On May 25, 2010 my baby boy will turn 22 years old. He has been through boot camp, special training, deplyoment, marriage, and getting ready for his second deployment and throughout all this he has managed to consistently make his momma bear proud. Yes, as parents we wonder how in the world we will be able to raise our children and not make mistakes and still want more for them than what we felt we had and to my surprise, we do achieve that and in return we gain so much more! I am a very proud mother of a very fine United States Marine! He truly is one of the Few, the Proud, a Marine and I could not be more proud to call him son.