Words cannot express my gratitude to you and the kindness of others who have made it possible for me to see my daughter and her shipmates graduate from boot camp. My trip was indescribable, and the folks at Rhythm of the Seas were so welcoming. However, I must start at the beginning. Due to mechanical problems my flight was to be delayed by 3 hours, however, Southwest put me on a direct flight that left earlier. This allowed me to drive from Philadelphia to Cape May and attend the meet and greet on Thursday evening.I met many families that I recognized from the face book page, and we shared our excitement of the coming day. The information the officers gave was informative and meeting the mentor, (I’m not sure how to address his name properly) & his wife was great.
They shared some great stories and some facts about the selection of recruits and how some are reverted and some are sadly removed from the program. I learned a lot about the Coast Guard and about boot camp, and information of what to expect the next day.
The following day, Friday, at breakfast you could feel the excitement throughout the room. After eating a wonderful, filling breakfast. And thanks to all the volunteers that made our meals.
What a beautiful way to serve our country, That they create the meals for Thursday evenings and Friday mornings 42 weeks of the year. That’s impressive!
So on to the Ida Lewis building. (I hope I spelled that correctly) The film of boot camp was impressive, informative and a real eye-opener. I think I had seen parts of the film but not in its entirety.
Then the officer who came forward and shared things to expect, more things about boot camp. How excited we were to see our graduate! Ok.. so here is where I got weepy. He said, as in boot camp,
That we wrote letters and were a connection to home, and something familiar. That now we need to be our Coastie’s lifeline. That now they are going to be making decisions and may from time to time,
run some ideas past us. To be there for them. I had to smile on the inside, because Patience knew right away that she wanted to be a fire-fighter, an EMT, and after high school she went after her dream.
Then she pursued the United States Coast Guard, and off to boot camp she went. I’m told the firehouse isn’t the same without Patience.
To see Patience in her dress uniform was breath-taking. I am so proud that my little girl wants to serve our great country. As the other companies marched thru the parade field I prayed for their strength and courage, thanking the good Lord for their dedication t serve. My daughter was so very grateful that I was able to attend the graduation. She squeezed me so very tight and told me that I didn’t know how much it meant to her that I was there.
Thank-you again from the bottom of my heart,
They shared some great stories and some facts about the selection of recruits and how some are reverted and some are sadly removed from the program. I learned a lot about the Coast Guard and about boot camp, and information of what to expect the next day.
The following day, Friday, at breakfast you could feel the excitement throughout the room. After eating a wonderful, filling breakfast. And thanks to all the volunteers that made our meals.
What a beautiful way to serve our country, That they create the meals for Thursday evenings and Friday mornings 42 weeks of the year. That’s impressive!
So on to the Ida Lewis building. (I hope I spelled that correctly) The film of boot camp was impressive, informative and a real eye-opener. I think I had seen parts of the film but not in its entirety.
Then the officer who came forward and shared things to expect, more things about boot camp. How excited we were to see our graduate! Ok.. so here is where I got weepy. He said, as in boot camp,
That we wrote letters and were a connection to home, and something familiar. That now we need to be our Coastie’s lifeline. That now they are going to be making decisions and may from time to time,
run some ideas past us. To be there for them. I had to smile on the inside, because Patience knew right away that she wanted to be a fire-fighter, an EMT, and after high school she went after her dream.
Then she pursued the United States Coast Guard, and off to boot camp she went. I’m told the firehouse isn’t the same without Patience.
To see Patience in her dress uniform was breath-taking. I am so proud that my little girl wants to serve our great country. As the other companies marched thru the parade field I prayed for their strength and courage, thanking the good Lord for their dedication t serve. My daughter was so very grateful that I was able to attend the graduation. She squeezed me so very tight and told me that I didn’t know how much it meant to her that I was there.
Thank-you again from the bottom of my heart,
RSS Feed