Today is a very important day in Julian’s life, it’s the day he swears into the Army. We are so proud of how far he’s come, and how hard he’s worked to prepare for this moment. He has spent the last few months working on learning the Army way with Lexi. He’s been going on runs, doing push-ups, sit ups, and any other exercises Lexi has told him to work on in preparation of boot camp.
“Lexi, are you ready to go? We need to leave soon.”
“Yeah, I’ll be ready in a minute.” We told Amelia and Julian we would pick them up on our way over to MEPS. His grandmother doesn’t live far from us, and it’s pretty much on the way.
Lexi walks out wearing a pair of nice khaki capris and an olive green shirt. You can totally guess she’s former Army. “I’m ready.”
When we get to Julian’s house there is little parking so Lexi calls him to let them know we’re here. They come out two minutes later with Amelia holding Julian’s arm. He’s a good kid and I’m so glad I took the time to help him. He’s really going to make something of his life.
I get out of the car and open the back door for Amelia. “Are you ready?” I ask Julian once she’s inside.
“Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“You’re getting huge, kid.” I pat him on the shoulder.
“That’s my grandmother’s cooking. She insists that I eat as healthy as possible while I’m working out, so I’ve put on a few pounds, luckily it’s in mass and not fat.” He smiles at his grandmother who rolls down the window.
“I told him, that I did research online and it said he needed lots of protein while working out.” We all get a chuckle out of Amelia. She’s this cute little old lady with a raspy voice, and to hear her talk about doing research online like it’s an everyday occurrence is pretty funny.
“Grandma, you are right, protein is good, but you can’t believe everything you read online,” Julian scolds, but Amelia’s not hearing it. She dismisses him with a wave of her hand and begins talking to Lexi.
“Let’s roll.”
When Julian is settled in the back with his grandmother he says, “Thank you both for taking us over for my ceremony.”
“It’s not a problem, kid.” Amelia told us she doesn’t like to drive too much anymore, but really, it’s an honor for us to watch him be sworn in. We’ve kind of adopted him in our own way. Julian and I talk over the phone or text several times a week about school, military prep, or life in general. There’s no way we’d want to miss this. We were there for his high school graduation as well. We even threw him a little party to celebrate. All our friends have welcomed him and Amelia openly.
It’s not a long drive, but the morning commute can be a bitch, as can parking. We pull up to the Boston MEPS center where all our local troops go to be sworn in and we are lucky enough to find a spot a short walk up the street.
“What is MEPS?” Amelia asks as we climb out of the car.
“It stands for Military Entrance Processing Station. This is where Julian came with his recruiter to ensure he is fit to serve and now he will be sworn in.” She nods looking at the huge building. “I came through this same building before I went off to boot camp and my schooling.”
When we get inside, Julian spots his recruiter who instantly walks him off to begin the process for the day. We will be here for a little while since they will check him over one last time. “Don’t worry, Amelia, they are just making sure he still makes height and weight. Then they’ll meet with him to go over a few things. Then he’ll be brought into the room where we’ll be waiting for him to swear in. Once the process is done, he’ll be given a little time to say goodbye to us, and then we’ll go, and so will he.”
The poor woman looks so nervous. I feel for her. Julian is the only family she has left, and she’s about to say goodbye to him without being able to speak to him for a few weeks.
She takes the seat Lexi offers her. “Is it true he won’t be able to call home?”
“They will probably allow him a quick call home when he first arrives at reception to let you know he’s arrived safely, but it’s going to depend on what time he gets there. You may not hear until tomorrow. After that, he probably won’t call home for a few weeks. He’ll go through the reception station to collect his uniforms and any gear he needs. Then he’ll get a haircut, have a chance to pick up any hygiene items he will need, and then he’ll finally be sent off to his unit where he will meet his drill sergeant. The first few weeks are the toughest, but once he passes red phase and moves to white phase things will get a bit easier for him, and he will have a chance to call home.”
Amelia nods, taking this all in. “Why is he allowed to bring his cell phone?”
“Well in my day we weren’t allowed to do that, but now they lock them up and issue them out for phone call time. That way they can video chat or call home without having to wait in line for pay phones. That’s why it was important for him to write his name in permanent marker on the phone. That tells the drill sergeant it’s his.”
“Thank you for getting him a prepaid cell phone. I was really worried about him taking his with him and it getting stolen. At least if something happens to this one it’s not his expensive one that we will have to pay hundreds to replace.”
“It’s our pleasure. We’re really proud of him and want to help in any way we can,” I assure her.
“We also understand it can’t be easy raising a teenage grandchild on your own.” Lexi gives her shoulder a tight squeeze.
“It’s certainly not something I ever planned on doing,” she says with a chuckle.
This woman is so amazingly sweet. We pass the remainder of the time swapping phone numbers and let her know that if she needs anything or Julian reaches out to her to let us know, and we make promise to do the same. The room we’re waiting in is starting to fill up with family members waiting like us for the, swear in process to begin. The problem is there are a lot of soldiers that swear in at one time, and they have to process them all through before they even get to this point. The only upside is they all have flights to catch shortly so we know we won’t be here too much longer.
About thirty minutes later a bunch of nervous looking kids file into the room. There are a few who look to be a bit older, but for the most part it’s all teenagers swearing in to fulfill their duty to their country. There are a few military personnel standing in the front of the room speaking to the group. He asks everyone to raise their right hand. “Repeat after me.” A man at the front of the room speaks clearly. “I…state your name…do solemnly swear that I will…” He continues on in bursts with the soldiers repeating after him.
I look over to see Lexi mumbling the words along with the rest of the room. She looks so proud. “I’ll never forget the look of pride on my father’s face when I turned around a sworn in Army soldier. I ran straight into his arms, he squeezed me tight and told me just how proud he was of me.”
I can’t stop smiling as I watch Julian make his way over to us. Amelia is crying, overjoyed with her grandson taking this next big step in life. They hug and next it’s my turn. “Listen, you go out there and you do us proud.” I slap him on the back.
“You got it.” Julian is grinning ear to ear.
He hugs Lexi last. With her forehead pressed to his, she says, “I’m going to tell you the same thing my father told me on this very same day.” He smiles. “Go kick some Army ass.”
He laughs and hugs her again. “Thank you for everything, Lexi. I wouldn’t have been nearly as prepared for this if it weren’t for you.”
“Remember what I told you. They are going to scream at you no matter how good of a job you do. You keep your head held high and you keep on truckin’. Got it?”
“I got it.” He says filled with pride. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” He lets out a deep breath.
“Believe it, and know this, we’ve exchanged numbers with your grandmother. She’s in good hands. You do what you have to do, but call her as soon as you can. She’ll let us know how you’re doing.”
“Thank you both so much. I think that’s the hardest part about this. Leaving my grandmother, the only family I have left, is a little nerve-wracking.” He shakes out his jittery hands.
“We got your back, you just focus. The next nine weeks are really important for you, especially with your MOS.” Choosing to be a Military Police for his MOS is going to set him up nicely in the civilian world, but it’s no cup of tea in the Army. It’s a lot of work.
They call out to all the troops to gather their stuff. He has one small bag since they aren’t allowed to bring a lot with them anyway. He quickly gives us one last hug before he goes. “We’ll see you at graduation,” I call out as he waves bye to us from across the room.
Amelia follows behind, slowly watching her grandson until the very last minute. He files onto a bus, taking a window seat that faces the sidewalk. He lowers the window and calls out to her. “I love you, Grandma.” He blows her a kiss and promises to call her soon.
Poor Amelia blows one back but breaks into tears. I hug her tight rubbing her back to console her as she watches her grandson’s bus pull away. “Let’s get you home.” Lexi hands her a tissue to clean herself up. I put an arm around her and we walk her off to the car with the promise he will be just fine.
It’s amazing to me how three people who once were so broken manage to find and heal each other. I have no doubt in my mind if we hadn’t come together when we had our lives would be totally different. We’re no longer the shattered souls we once were, and we will forever support each other and be there for each other so we never have to go down that dark road again.