Paris Island here he comes!

Well the time finally came for Jordan to honor his commitment and enter the Corps...last week he was called on Monday to leave the Sunday of Memorial Day for boot camp. The next day he was recalled and told that it would be another week. Then on Thursday he got called back and was told it was Monday night afterall. This was a very emotional time for me as well as our family, particulary because Dave and I had planned a getaway to Bald Head Island, NC with the kids over the holiday.

I told Jordan I would cancel the trip and stay home, have a send-off picnic, etc. but he didn't want us to do that. Little did I know that he had a mega-party planned and so that's why he wanted us gone. After much thought and self-debate, I decided we would not forgo our trip and say my goodbyes to him on Thursday. Actually, Thursday turned out to be a pretty good day for us. After spending most of the day with him (and Megan his girlfriend), he left and said goodbye and then came back before we left for Sophia's school program. We again said our goodbyes and he the kids got to wish him well too. When we pulled out for the school program Sophia said, "Mom, he talked to us as if he loved us..." I had to laugh. It's not secret that he was less than thrilled to have 4 little brothers and sisters.

So we went off on our weekend (which I will blog about in a day or so)...and Jordan set out to trash the house, party hard at the pool and well, destroy many things around the house. I was pretty mad when I came home to find the living room destroyed, etc...and needless to say, it will take $300 to have the furniture and carpet cleaned, $150 to replace the sweeper head, $35 for the missing pot of flowers out front, $7 for a yard reflector, and who knows how much to fix the bowed floor and the fridge that is leaking because he said, "everything was fine," when I called home to find out what was going on.

Ok so enough is enough. I was angry that he would be so irresponsible and disrespectful, but would I expect anything less? Probably not. It's sad that he would have done the same thing if he was leaving or not, and I know this from past experience. I just figured he was 20 now and had some common sense. Guess not...

Anyway, special thanks to my family for having a going away picnic for him, actually it was more like a dinner, but Mom said he seemed to be appreciative and enjoyed seeing the family. It was nice they did that since we weren't home. I'm actually glad we went away. I'm not good at goodbyes and he wanted to do this on his own, he was very adament about that to me. He's like me in that way, always wanting to do things independently and on our own. Like mother like son.

All in all, respect is something I'm very much hoping he will learn. I guess that's what the Marines is for. I'm so hoping and praying that he comes home a changed man. I'm praying for him to earn respect for himself and others, for him to gain self-confidence and discipline. I'm sure the slob will be yelled out of him because that may be one of the biggest eye-openers he will have. So for what it's worth, even though I was pretty mad, I'm still proud of him. I'll get over it, clean it up and move on. It's kindof wierd knowing he won't be coming in late, hanging out watching TV or playing X-Box, he won't be asking me for money to get some food...and this morning the kids wanted to know if he was in the basement because they wanted to go down to play.