My son leaves for the air force in 3 days. Words I’ve always wondered what it would be like to say. As he joins the ranks of all the soldiers over all the years .I join the mothers who have had their hearts taken away to unpronounceable places to face unsayable risks. Death is not new to our family. We are called to meet God face to face when He chooses.. I do not fear my child dying. I fear his fears. I fear his sadness. I fear the cold. I fear confusion and loneliness. I fear what could go wrong.
Before the soldier- is the son; before the son- the child; before the child- the infant; and before the infant- the mother. Look into the face of any young soldier, you will see a bit of the life-seed of his mother. She is the mother of the infant-soldier. He is the soldier for the mother of an infant.
My son leaves in 3 days. His protection now depends on things quite apart from me. He will grow to learn new skill and strength. I need to grow too. Grow or be taken up by the very fears I have for him. Just as he learned to trust me as an infant, I, now, must learn to trust him as a man…to face his fears, to find his own comfort in sadness, to keep himself warm, to not be overcome by confusion, to make God his constant companion, and to be prepared for the unexpected...to let the man take care of the child.
So John, I honor you today, for what you will do in protecting my boy as you go off to unpronounceable places. You will join the ranks of all the soldiers of all the ages…and I join the ranks of all the mothers who have honored the soldiers who protect their infants and children.
I cannot express how much I love you.
Mom
9 comments:
Our prayers for his protection will go with him. Our prayers for your peace & comfort are with you as well.
Mrs. Yak
Sister... well said. You have captured the essence of a mothers care for her chicks as they leave the farmyard for bigger worlds beyond... all the fears we have for our children--whether going off to the military or anywhere outside of the perimeter of the 'world' we know and live in. I am lifting you up in prayer my friend.
Well, if your plan was to make the rest of the Quadblog look frivolous, pedantic, inexcusably silly and unforgivably pointless, you've met and surpassed your goal right out of the gate.
You fear for his fears. Now you've given me a whole new fear I would have never thought of on my own. And what could be worse than that one?
Please stall him. I'm leaving now to whisk him up to Canada. I've never been there but maybe he has and he can navigate.
Remember-Keep stalling!
A very good post. Written in the language of the heart. Thank you very much.
The Smoking Christian can find humor in virtually every situation. I was witness to this yesterday at a retirement home where we joined a few elderly women for lunch. One of the ladies mentioned that when her husband's mind had been completely taken away by alzheimers she had to put him in certain home.
For the rest of our lunch the SC never missed an opportunity to refer to that home by name whenever he could fit it into a sentence, an answer or into a question. I think the SC was trying to say that there may be a place for him in this certain home...and perhaps soon.
Imagine all of our relief when everyone, including the woman who had lost her husband (first to alzheimers, later to death) couldn't stop laughing!
Hopefully your son will find a great deal of humor in the military, we're pretty sure that our dear old dad did during his day.
Dear yb of sc-
Thank you for that!
a quiet notion of what's real
unnoticed all the time
by the careful efforts that are taken
and no one ever doesn't take them
but they are always felt so strong
and once in every lapse of time
the overwhelming notion of what's real
comes alive without control
and everyone around
can feel the same emotion
then going seperate ways
"Seeing things from a
Better side than most can dream
and if nothing can be done
we'll make the best of what's around." (dave matthews band)
Your descriptions are very strong. You can make the straightest person forget who they are, have become. haha....
but no one ever changes.
I love you very much. I plan on telling you so many things and I plan on coming back to see you many times; always going back to see the people that I love.
-john
Thank you John. I know you will come back (sometimes like a bad penny!). Thank you for being brave. Thank you for setting your resolve. I am proud of you. And I will be proud of you.
Mom
John...I didn't think I could be a prouder Aunt than I have in the past. You have grown to be such a fine man. I love you more than you know. Be strong and change your socks often!
Aunt Robin
Mia.. I miss you so much, you are tougher than you think. Smile, pray and buy lots of kleenex!
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