CalifStrongDad
Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2019
- Messages
- 121
I am new to this forum, so please indulge me while I share this story. We discus our DD/DS who have worked so hard and achieved so much and are so focused I try and remind my DS to work hard but be aware of the world as people around him.
He is a senior getting ready for graduation and prom was this weekend. He did his prom-posal picked out his tuxedo, was part of a group and was ready for a great time. He is a NROTC NO. One of his teammates has signed his contract and is enlisting in the Marines after they graduate in a few weeks so they go back and find forth about the Navy and Marines. They were talking this week about the prom and what color tuxedos they were going to wear. The other young man told my DS he was wearing a suit instead of a Tux and mentioned that he couldn’t afford a tux so he went to the goodwill and found a suit. There is nothing wrong with shopping at goodwill and I have shopped there, but not many kids would have the guts to admit that to a classmate at the very exclusive private school these two attend.
At this school the seniors get to ditch their uniforms when they pick their college and replace their uniform tops with college hoodies. We have kids who have worked hard and got into great school, Harvard, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Michigan and so. My DS rocked his KP hoodie when he was a Candidate until he took his NROTC option and now has his college hoodie he wears everyday. 98% of these kids will go on to college.
During this conversation my DS told him he was proud that is joining the USMC and he should wear a Marine hoodie because everyone wears something that they will be doing next. He told my DS that he would like to but he has a huge family and that they didn’t have a lot of extras with so many mouths to feed. In fact he only has a few used uniform tops for school so it’s kind of tough.
My D told us this story and said we should help him out. If he is willing to enlist and defend his country he deserves to wear a Marine hoodie to school with pride. We all agreed. I began looking on line and wanted to have one for him the last two weeks of school. I drove by one of the bases in our community and was wondering if they would let me on base to buy this kid a hoodie but they knew they wouldn’t but I noticed that they had a museum and maybe I could find one there.
I went in and couldn’t find anything in his size and my wife reminded me not to go crazy, we have graduation events to pay for this week so I asked one of the volunteers to help me. For some reason they didn’t have any XL hoodies so we had to search for one. We began talking and she asked who it was for, I told her it was for a classmate of my DS who was enlisting. I got kind of choked up telling her about this very special young man and why I was there. She found one and when I asked how much she said it was half price, I asked why she said she is a Navy Vet and a Marine Wife and Mom, she has two sons in the Corp. She told me she was paying for half of this sweatshirt. Another woman who was working there said no that she was wrong, today the hoodie was free because she was paying for the other half because this future Marine deserved it. I told them no I couldn’t but they wouldn’t take my debt card and they grabbed their pursues and pulled out cash to pay for it and said it was their pleasure. Turns out both were vets and had sons who are Marines. I don’t think I have ever met two more wonderful human beings in my life.
We don’t come from a military family and all this is so foreign to us as we take this journey with our DS and are terrified. We support him and love him and are so proud of him. I sat down with him and had a heart to heart talk and shared my feelings with him and he understood why we are terrified and he knows how much we love him and how much pride he brings us.
These two ladies have shown us how wonderful Marine and all service Moms are with their generosity, their grace and support. Their support for a service member in need was unbelievable. It takes a lot for a Mom to allow their DD/DS to serve and protect our nation. I have been so focused on SA and ROTC and my sons path, I am glad I got a reminder of the paths that so many young men and women are taking as well and the Moms that are there to support them.
Happy Mother’s Day to those two Marine Moms and all the Mothers who are their for our Cadets, Midn, Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Gaurdsmen, and Vets! God Bless you all.
He is a senior getting ready for graduation and prom was this weekend. He did his prom-posal picked out his tuxedo, was part of a group and was ready for a great time. He is a NROTC NO. One of his teammates has signed his contract and is enlisting in the Marines after they graduate in a few weeks so they go back and find forth about the Navy and Marines. They were talking this week about the prom and what color tuxedos they were going to wear. The other young man told my DS he was wearing a suit instead of a Tux and mentioned that he couldn’t afford a tux so he went to the goodwill and found a suit. There is nothing wrong with shopping at goodwill and I have shopped there, but not many kids would have the guts to admit that to a classmate at the very exclusive private school these two attend.
At this school the seniors get to ditch their uniforms when they pick their college and replace their uniform tops with college hoodies. We have kids who have worked hard and got into great school, Harvard, Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Michigan and so. My DS rocked his KP hoodie when he was a Candidate until he took his NROTC option and now has his college hoodie he wears everyday. 98% of these kids will go on to college.
During this conversation my DS told him he was proud that is joining the USMC and he should wear a Marine hoodie because everyone wears something that they will be doing next. He told my DS that he would like to but he has a huge family and that they didn’t have a lot of extras with so many mouths to feed. In fact he only has a few used uniform tops for school so it’s kind of tough.
My D told us this story and said we should help him out. If he is willing to enlist and defend his country he deserves to wear a Marine hoodie to school with pride. We all agreed. I began looking on line and wanted to have one for him the last two weeks of school. I drove by one of the bases in our community and was wondering if they would let me on base to buy this kid a hoodie but they knew they wouldn’t but I noticed that they had a museum and maybe I could find one there.
I went in and couldn’t find anything in his size and my wife reminded me not to go crazy, we have graduation events to pay for this week so I asked one of the volunteers to help me. For some reason they didn’t have any XL hoodies so we had to search for one. We began talking and she asked who it was for, I told her it was for a classmate of my DS who was enlisting. I got kind of choked up telling her about this very special young man and why I was there. She found one and when I asked how much she said it was half price, I asked why she said she is a Navy Vet and a Marine Wife and Mom, she has two sons in the Corp. She told me she was paying for half of this sweatshirt. Another woman who was working there said no that she was wrong, today the hoodie was free because she was paying for the other half because this future Marine deserved it. I told them no I couldn’t but they wouldn’t take my debt card and they grabbed their pursues and pulled out cash to pay for it and said it was their pleasure. Turns out both were vets and had sons who are Marines. I don’t think I have ever met two more wonderful human beings in my life.
We don’t come from a military family and all this is so foreign to us as we take this journey with our DS and are terrified. We support him and love him and are so proud of him. I sat down with him and had a heart to heart talk and shared my feelings with him and he understood why we are terrified and he knows how much we love him and how much pride he brings us.
These two ladies have shown us how wonderful Marine and all service Moms are with their generosity, their grace and support. Their support for a service member in need was unbelievable. It takes a lot for a Mom to allow their DD/DS to serve and protect our nation. I have been so focused on SA and ROTC and my sons path, I am glad I got a reminder of the paths that so many young men and women are taking as well and the Moms that are there to support them.
Happy Mother’s Day to those two Marine Moms and all the Mothers who are their for our Cadets, Midn, Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Gaurdsmen, and Vets! God Bless you all.
