August 29, 2018

The day he left for bootcamp.

This was the first time I’d ever seen him cry, as he hugged his father (U.S. Navy veteran) goodbye. I had spent the last three years spending every day that I could with him and for the next two months he would practically disappear from my life.

I looked up to him, he was my best friend and always seemed so strong and confident, nothing could bother him (not even the Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercial).

The Basics

Recruit Training Command (Naval bootcamp), located in Chicago Illinois, is a 7 week long program that turns a civilian into a sailor. During these 7 weeks a recruit is only able to have written contact with family members. At the end of the program a graduation ceremony is preformed to recognize the recruit as an official U.S. Navy Sailor.

Hopelessness ensued

Shortly after he left, my junior year at UNE began and it quickly took a turn for the worst. I stopped eating, studying and going to class. I missed him terribly and an emptiness quickly developed inside of me. The weeks went by slowly and my sadness turned to angst as I began to worry that the person who he had been before may not be the person he is now.

I wasn’t coping with his absence, I was deteriorating.

United States NAVY RTC Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, IL