New roles

So yesterday, I added a new role to my life.  Navy Mom.  My son is officially a US Navy Sailor.  Unlike my other son, who is in the Army Reserves, this one is active duty.  This means he will be gone somewhere protecting and serving our country full-time.  This is my BABY boy.  The child that was home the longest.  Yesterday I watched him graduate from basic training.  I cried.  Not tears of sadness but tears of pride & joy.  Some may not understand that.  My tears of joy were in that I knew that my son had found his calling in life.  After muddling through a semester of college, he realized it wasn't for him.  At least not yet.  We allowed him to try to sort it out & figure out what he wanted to do by not abiding by our own rules.  Our rule was, if you are in college, you live at home free of charge.  If you aren't you pay rent or move out.  We knew he wasn't ready to be on his own so we didn't push it but we hoped he'd figure it out.  He did.  Yesterday, I knew without a shadow of a doubt, my son had found his thing.  He was so full of excitement and enthusiasm !  It was something I had rarely seen from him.  He shined.  I could feel his sense of pride.  I knew that he had accomplished a huge goal.  Getting through basic training is no small feat.  He did it.  My little blonde haired, green eyes, sweet boy is now a US Navy Seaman Apprentice.  That boy is still there, but there is a new shine about him brought on only by the accomplishments he has made in the last 2 months.  I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in the future.  I never doubted him or what he was capable of.  He told me that he doubted himself, I told him that I didn't doubt him for a second.  I knew that he could overcome whatever challenge came his way because he'd already overcame such huge hurdles in his life.  I told him that while he might have doubted himself, I never had a doubt that he'd make it.  I could not be more proud of my sailor.  I can't wait to see where he goes from here!