His Leaving
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Him Entering Lackland, TX AFB
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I'm going to start from the beginning of when he left. The whole process to his leaving and what's happened up until now. Not a lot has happened but I do understand that some people try to know in detail what is going to happen. I know that when I found out Nathan was joining the Air Force I wanted to know a lot about BMT. Along with Tech School and life in the Military. As of now I can only share what I've lived through.
I'm first going to assume that recruiting offices aren't always in the local mall. The military recruiting offices in Daytona Beach are located in our mall. With that being said, Nathans first stop was to go to the mall. (The Recruiting Office) He goes there the day before he leaves to go to BMT. From there he took a shuttle to the closest MEPS. Our closest was in Jacksonville. In case you got lost. - Recruiting Office - MEPS - BMT The families of the recruits all get to go to MEPS to watch their person get sworn in and shuttled out. It is a really long waiting process and you don't get to really see your recruit very much. I got to really BE with Nathan 3 times. Once while he was waiting. Twice for lunch. Third time for pictures. The third time is when they let you take pictures in the ceremony room of you and your recruit. They have the different military branches logos and flags in the room that people would stand by. Nathan of course was near the Air Force one. They have people go over the plane and phone call process with you. To be honest it was helpful at the time but when it came down to it none of that happened. We said our goodbyes as he was getting in the bus to go to the airport. Though they were goodbyes it didn't seem that way because Nathan was on his phone texting me on his way to the airport. He was also doing a good bye post on Facebook and posting pictures of out his plane window. He also got to call me between his flight transfers. |
When Nathan entered Lackland, TX he texted me telling me he was safe. He then CALLED saying he was safe. I cried and we talked for a quick moment. He said that they were going to end up staying up really late to get paperwork done. Not long after he called I then got another text from him. It was informing me that from this moment on I should always have paper and pen on me because he could call at any time. He also made a point that he is only going to have 10 seconds to deliver the address and that if i was going to have trouble then to make sure it goes to voice mail.
I knew it would be hard for myself to NOT answer the phone when he called. But I was also very aware that I could mess up the address if it didn't get recorded. One of my solutions was that I changed my voice mail box recording. I told Nathan that I loved him and that voice mail would be best. Okay, now when I really got the address. He left MEPS on the 5th and I got the address on the 7th. It felt like forever but it really isn't even close. Getting his address was different then all the ways I was told. I heard the Jetson's text tone go off on my phone and checked it right away. It was picture mail. He had sent me a picture of his address filled out on paper. RIGHT AFTER the text he called me. The call didn't seem scripted or if it was he didn't really follow it. The reason for the call was for me to write down the address in case anything was wrong on the paper. I've never felt so much like an idiot in that moment. "Is that D as in Dog?" I had to say things like that. Nathan didn't sound happy but he didn't sound miserable either. It just felt like he was holding back. He could have been watched and was trying not to show too much emotion in front of his superiors. There were I love yous and also an awkward silence. It was like there was nothing more he could say and I didn't know what to say with my high prego emotions. So I ended up asking "Are you bald yet?" He responded with that is for tomorrow. (Which is today) I could have said something more along the lines of "Stay Strong." But I word vomited and I guess I felt like I needed to try and make him smile. That's all I know for now. I started to write him everyday. I'll update as I learn more. |
TRANSLATIONS:
BMT (Basic Military Training)
MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)
WOT (Week of Training)
AFB (Air Force Base)
BMT (Basic Military Training)
MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station)
WOT (Week of Training)
AFB (Air Force Base)