My Sailor

I don't really know how to describe the days leading up to Abby's sendoff, other than it felt like things kept building inside of me. I had been vaguely imagining the moment of saying goodbye in my mind for weeks, months, and I knew it would be rough, but I didn't realize how emotional it would be for me. I don't feel like I'm that sentimental of a person- it takes a lot for me to cry. And the times I do cry it seems to come out of nowhere.

Iris would talk about the little things she would miss when Abby left- Abby's propensity to start baking every night at 10pm (outside my room- surprisingly, I'll miss that, too), finding fruit in the strawberry and raisin cereal (Abby would always pick that out and fuss whenever someone got to them before she did X-D), the frosting being left on the cakes Iris made- Abby liked to scrape off the best part for herself :-P. And I thought those were sweet things that reminded her of her sister. But I never felt like I was going to cry at the thought of her leaving.

I first felt my tears well up when I saw Abby saying goodbye to Opal on Sunday when Opal and Toby were leaving to go to Camp Gray. Abby started sobbing. That was hard to watch. On Monday, seeing her say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa hit me hard as well. Who knows the next time she will see them in person? Monday morning, as I helped her and prepped to leave myself, my emotions just seemed like they were very close to the surface. Mike said something about me snapping at him, and I realized I had been without realizing it. I was extra emotional. And the floodgates just opened up. I sobbed, telling him how much I was going to miss her. How she'd just been a delight to have around the past few weeks, especially, how helpful she'd been, and how I've just really enjoyed talking with her like a friend. She's been a gift after a truly challenging previous year. He understood.

A half hour before Abby and I had to leave on Monday, I found the kids at the table playing a game together <3

The hardest goodbye 😭

I had to take Abby to Milwaukee on Monday afternoon- she had to sign something at the recruitment office in Janesville first at 2:30, so we left around 1:45. I was going to drop her at her hotel around 8 in Milwaukee and spend the night at the Wards', as MEPS, where she'd be sworn in the following morning, was only 12 minutes from their house. We had all afternoon in the car together, and after she checked in and dropped her things at the hotel, we went out to eat.

We split these... yum!

We had some time to kill before she needed to be back at the hotel, so we drove to Whitefish Bay, a charming town close to the water, and found a pretty path to walk on and got some ice cream at Fritzy's, a quaint, old fashioned Pharmacy. All that time together, God blessed our conversation... we talked about how God has worked in her life this past year, how He has strengthened her through the challenges, closed certain doors and opened others... and worked incredible miracles to bring her to this point! I have to share one, including a little more background of her journey to the Navy, here...

Ever since she decided to start training to go active duty a couple of months ago (not because she wanted to- she did NOT- but because that's what she felt God calling her to do after much prayer), She'd been working to improve her times for her PST (physical screening test). She was really hoping to reach that elevated PST score before boot camp so she could get a $15k bonus. She easily got the swimming with plenty of time to spare (thanks to her being on the swim team in high school) and sit-ups, but she struggled to get the running (10:00 for 1.5 miles- She had only gotten 10:40 two weeks before) and pull ups (10- she'd gotten 7) requirement.

A couple of days before her final testing opportunity she came down with what was likely strep. She didn't get tested because that would set her training leave date back, but she had a fever and a swollen red throat with white spots. She was in tears knowing the likelihood of her now passing the elevated test, which she already thought was fairly unlikely. But she traveled the hour down to Beloit to give it a try anyway.

I got a message from her at 12:55 saying she had "somehow [ahem...] passed the elevated PST scores!" She got 9:59 on her 1.5 mile and 10 pull-ups! Her timing officer told her when she finished, "Well, Ryan, you've sure got God on your side." After first collapsing and sobbing happy tears she assured him it was all God and told him she had a lot of people praying for her. So, she gets a $15,000 bonus when she graduates boot camp in August! That accomplishment is nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me.

Kaethe sweetly asked if I'd want her to join me for the swearing in ceremony, and I'm so glad I had her there with me for emotional support and just to make me laugh when things seemed heavy. And we had to wait a while in different waiting rooms, as Abby was put in group two, since they had so many people, so it was nice to have company and chat with the other parents of recruits (something I do not excel at). I felt proud being the mom of one of the two female recruits there. One of the moms asked, "Is she the really fast swimmer?" She said their son, training to be a SEAL, said she's "like a bullet in the water!" and had finished before any of them. That's my girl!

Shortly after the ceremony and pictures (I'm still waiting for MEPS to post the ones they took with their camera online), we said our goodbyes. I think I got the rest of my tears out then, as after we left I felt like a weight had been lifted. God gave me that precious time with her the day before that I will treasure always. She certainly has God on her side. And she's confident of it!

I got a call from Abby on Tuesday night at 8:27, which lasted all of 11 seconds, telling me she was at boot camp and that she would give me another call in two days, and that she loved me. I'm thinking she meant two weeks, as I haven't heard anything, and it's been five days, and her recuiter told me she'd get a phonecall every two weeks or so. But we'll be anxiously awaiting her name on my phone screen, whenever that may be.

I couldn't be more proud of you, Abby. My tenacious girl. My sailor.

Fun fact: my Granddaddy's nickname for me was Sailor, as I once wore a temporary tattoo, reminding him of a sailor. And it stuck. He was in the Marines.