The boy has left home

[Trainzz]

congrats

Unlike ya'll, I have a daughter on active duty in God's favorites (the Army). She is in her 2nd hitch with a tour of Iraq and Afghanistan. Since she return, she graced Terri and I with our 5th grandkid, a little girl, eight weeks ago. Could not be prouder of her!

Tell yer son to keep his head and his @ss wired tight !

Christ, where do all these fine youngster come from. Gives one hope for all of us.

[The Lorax]

Thanks all for the well wishes and wonderful thoughts. However, apparently something came up during his physical on Monday, he was diagnosed with ADD when he was 8 or nine, and the question came up, he chose to answer honestly and they told him he needed some paperwork and a waiver, then sent him back to Dayton. he called me about 6:00pm last night to come pick him up. now with the exorbitant amount of paperwork required to get a waiver for this, he's suddenly become unsure as to whether this is something he wants to pursue. it's his decision and I will support him either way, but if he's not going to go into the service, he has to find employment and get enrolled in a post high school educational institution or he will lose coverage under my insurance. I am a bit disappointed, but it is his choice, and I will stand by him whatever he decides to do. I guess I was a little premature in my decision to tell the world about his life choices, ah well, another bump in the road of life. have a nice day and ride safe

[XJOK2PLAY]

Lorax,
Don't feel bad, Sir... as a Dad I understand. It's hard to keep something like that under wraps. Life... it happens... and we're all more alike than most think. I'd probably have done the same thing. You can be proud though, when the time came to do the right thing, he passed. You did good Lorax! It's in those times in our kids lives when we really know if they learned anything from us... looks to me like he did.
I know he's gotta be discouraged, but sounds like he's got good character. If I'm correct, he'll do the right thing when the time comes, and he gets it all figured out.
Bob

[DJinNH]

Thanks all for the well wishes and wonderful thoughts. However, apparently something came up during his physical on Monday, he was diagnosed with ADD when he was 8 or nine, and the question came up, he chose to answer honestly and they told him he needed some paperwork and a waiver, then sent him back to Dayton. he called me about 6:00pm last night to come pick him up. now with the exorbitant amount of paperwork required to get a waiver for this, he's suddenly become unsure as to whether this is something he wants to pursue. it's his decision and I will support him either way, but if he's not going to go into the service, he has to find employment and get enrolled in a post high school educational institution or he will lose coverage under my insurance. I am a bit disappointed, but it is his choice, and I will stand by him whatever he decides to do. I guess I was a little premature in my decision to tell the world about his life choices, ah well, another bump in the road of life. have a nice day and ride safe

If he gets too depressed, just say to him what Tom Cruise's character said to the Marine sentenced for discharge in the final scene of "A Few Good Men".

"Harold...you don't have to wear a patch on your sleeve to have honor."

I'm not joking about this either. Many men and women have a hard time with being denied their dream.

Don

[DJinNH]

Lorax,

I just had a cigarette and grabbed some more coffee.

I am concerned over the news of your son and hope you can really watch him and guide him. I can relate in some sort of way to what he might be feeling.

As I have posted before, I use to be a Sr. Marine Enforcement Officer for US Customs. I was the captain of high speed patrol boats in South Florida making drug/alien smuggling busts. At times I worked Secret Service details guarding Presidents and VP's. It was a dream job that I loved but in 2004 it all came to a screaching halt when I moronically got myself run over by one of our Black Hawk helicopters.

Again, as I have posted before, I went into a four year seclusion partly due to the wife taking off around the time of my accident.

The main point of my post is that because my dream was gone, and I am not saying your son's is, I felt worthless. I truley hope your son makes it past this hurdle, either by making it into the Marine Corps or by showing his strength by making it in life some other way.

Life truley does go on. Kind of like what Rocky (Stallone) said in that last movie, it's not just about winning, it's about getting up after you've been knocked down.

Sorry for all the movie quotes.

I wish the very best of luck to your son....and you as well.

Don

[DJinNH]

Lorax....how's your son doing? OK, I hope. PM me if you would rather not share publically or not at all if you'd rather keep this private from now on.

Don

[DiverRay]

Lorax,
I'm going through almost the exact same thing with my son. He is 23, and has been trying to get into the Navy. He scored a 99 on the test, so he was all set for the nuclear program when he told them about his bout of Hodgekins Lymphoma at 16.
The Navy now wants about $8,000 worth of tests done BEFORE they MAY change their mind about taking him. He has now gone to the Army, and will be visiting the Air Force to try and "force" the issue with the Navy. He really does want to play with reactors, as dad was playing with neutron beams at his last job.
If the Marines just say no, have him go for the Army Airborn. Once in, he can then try for the Ranger battalion. The 82nd was pretty good to me back in the '70's.....
Good luck to your family

[The Lorax]

Hey all, Thanks for the thoughts, as for the boy, I think I am more dissapointed over it than he is. he's presently out stumping for a job, trying to get some cash together so he can get into school this fall. he's pretty resilient, I think the young lady in his life has helped him deal with any bad feelings he might be having. all in all, he's fine no worries. his biggest worry is finding a job. thanks again all for the thoughts and concerns for the boy, and DJ, I don't believe in keeping too much stuff private, feel free to ask any questions publicly, I will answer them publicly and honestly, I guess it's just the way God (or my parents) made me. Phil is by and large a good kid, he doesn't get too worked up over stuff (kind of like me) he'll find his way in the world, I just have to give him the freedom to find his path. thanks again all, have a nice day and ride safe

[latexeses]

He is a lucky young man to have that kind of support. Our best to him.

[DJinNH]

Lorax, My guess is that the support you are giving him now is going to be something he will be thankful for and remember the rest of his life.

An example of that from my own dad....20 yrs ago, I was at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Brunswick, GA for US Customs. I studied and studied for the first test. I stayed in all that weekend while my classmates went out on the town. The problem was, I studied too much...every note, every chapter, instead of concentrating on the objectives.

All that studying and I scored a 73. 69 was a failing score. If you failed one of the nine tests, you had one chance to pass it. One chance over the nine, not one chance for each test. Fail out and you're looking for a new line of work.

I was panicking and I'll never forget the words of support my dad gave me on the phone. "Don, if you make it through I will be so proud of you. But I can't lose either way because if for some reason you don't, you can come home and I will have my son back."

Well, I got into study groups and realized to concentrate on the objectives so I made it with ease after that first test. Still, I will never forget my dad's words of support.

Good luck to you and your son.

Don