My Son, My Marine

My son, My Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Honor, Courage, Commitment. Semper Fidelis; always faithful. OOOO-RAHHH!


Most LDS mothers have a missionary son, or sons. I hoped to have one. When my son was small, he wanted to be a missionary. Things changed when he got older, though. My son came home one day and told his dad and me that he had joined the Marines. My heart was sad....heavy for a bit. He was a Marine before most people in the ward knew it. They were shocked, and not too pleased with the news. I couldn't decide what I felt. I cried some. I wanted a missionary son, and I had a Marine. What do you do with a Marine son, when all your friends have missionaries? There for awhile I felt like that mother that wrote about having the the little child with disabilities. She had planned a trip to Rome and ended up in Holland. First, she didn't want to be in Holland; she wanted to go to Rome. I wanted a missionary! I went to the temple somewhere amid all those mixed up feelings. I sat and read in the Book of Mormon. It was good stuff. I turned one page, but somehow probably 100 pages flipped and suddenly I was in Alma reading about the Stripling Warriors. Now those guys were first rate Marines! They too, had mothers that loved them. I knew that Heavenly Father loved my son, and knew of his choice to be a Marine. He loved me, too by the way, and didn't think of me as a failure as a mother. I felt PEACE: The peace only Christ can give you. I am telling you, if one of your kids is doing something you question, go to the temple.

I came home and hugged my son. I shared those scriptures with him. He hugged me tightly. Before this, my son felt he had let me down-that I was disappointed in him. I told him to be the best Marine that he could possibly be, and not whine. He laughed, as he has never been a whiner. He chose to defend our country and our freedoms. He wasn't as tough as he thought he was, though. Getting to be a tough Marine was way more difficult than he imagined it would be. He has learned what it means to give his ALL, AND still keep going. Every time we talk, which if you follow this blog at all, you know it isn't often, I can tell he has grown a little more. He loves being a Marine. Good thing, as they say, once a Marine, always a Marine. That Marine tough attitude, plus humility and prayer should help him accomplish his goals AND handle anything life throws at him.

Yesterday, I was upstairs putting towels away and stepped inside his room. It's quiet in there. Along with all of his fairly new Marine paraphernalia, there was the silhouette of his little face taken when he was just five years old. His favorite picture of Christ was hanging where he placed it on his wall when he was a little 10 year old. His old stuffed toy, 'Mr Bear' was sitting on his bed. His big stereo system and a beautiful little angel, holding a charm that says 'COURAGE' sat on his shelf. I decided to take a picture of some of these things that remind me of my Marine. I purposely left his stereo out of the picture. Number one, it would have been hard to relocate. Also the flashing, colorful lights on the front of it always remind me of Vegas, or some resident evil lurking around, waiting to come to life. (Give you an idea of the music that was played in that thing? My son and I had MANY discussions about music and its effects on us. Truthfully, I think it was one of the reasons I ended up with a Marine instead of a missonary in the first place. Last time I called him, there was a 'normal' song, not a headbanger song for a ring tone. I called back, as thought I had the wrong Marine--same song. Mr Wonderful said maybe his taste in music has changed. One can hope!)

I really miss my Marine son. I even miss his messy room, loud music, and crazy friends. Well, truthfully, there is one friend I still don't miss. Mostly, I miss his smiling face....and his hugs. Sometimes, I get all teary-eyed even thinking about him. I say a little silent prayer for him, then I try to stuff all the feelings back inside my heart so I can carry on. In our ward, right now there are 10 wonderful young missionaries, 4-5 young men serving in the army, and my son, the Marine. Stripling Warriors--the lot of them. May God watch over them all, keep them safe, and return them safely home to their mothers.