When Your Son Becomes a Man

Mrs El Gee just called me a little while ago. She said that our son is going to be shipped to Iraq. He will be there 14 months.

Son of El Gee's MOS is 88M, a driver, who just completed AIT a few weeks ago. He is 18 and like most 18 years old, he is very independent. He wanted to do something as active duty (he is Army National Guard) and there were two options: Border Patrol in Texas or as a driver (his MOS). He was wanting the border patrol duty at first, but it is 2 years long and he would be working with civilians. He was not overly keen on going to Iraq, but he wants to serve...he feels that God is calling him to do so.

I am a worrier by nature. I will not sleep very well once he ships out. I know that I will be in prayer for him every day. I also know that he will never be that goofy little kid that I rescued from his troubled bio-mom. Speaking of which, when she finds out she will be very upset. She was not pleased to hear that he joined in the first place nor was she pleased when she found out that I signed the papers that let him enlist. If I did not allow him to join at 17, he would have just joined when he turned 18. I would have only postponed the inevitable by 6-12 months. He does not regret his choice and neither do I.

Son of El Gee is very resourceful. He likes the Army. He told me that after enlisting, he does not handle civilian life very well. Gosh, that sounds like Jawa.