Congrats!! Reminder: Bubble Wrap.
I will never, ever, forget that morning at 6 a.m. when I put my TWO babies on a plane to Dallas, where they would pick up the connector to COS. Oh! My tears, proud, scared, sad, excited, could have filled a river.
When they got on the connector to COS, there were maybe six seats on that aircraft NOT filled with incoming basics. They had the time of their lives, and it was just starting.
For parents, we have to remember that when they sign those papers, they are no longer our little sons and daughters, looking to us for advice and support, they are full-fledged adults (See ChristCorp if you doubt this), in the US military, stepping into a world some of us have never known, some know all too well, some love as family...
NOW, make your reservations for Parents Weekend, buy your tickets to the football game, get the sweatshirt, and get ready for the questions from people who don't know any better:
Why isn't your (smart) child going to college?
Does your child know there is a war over there?
Did s/he get a scholarship?
The list is pretty much endless.