July 1

He passed BattleStations! I got the call in the middle of class. I had already told my instructor that Jamie was running BattleStations and that I was expecting a phone call. She was very understanding.

So anyway, the phone vibrates, I grab it off the table and RUN out of the room so I can answer before it rolls over to voicemail and I miss the call. The voice on the other end was so soft and subdued (two words I've NEVER used in relation to Jamie!) that I was afraid he'd failed.

"I passed," was all he managed to say for a few minutes. I cried (who's surprised at THAT?!?) and told him that I never had a doubt that he'd pass and that I was proud of him and that he should be proud of himself, etc., etc. Then I asked him specific stuff about BattleStations and he said, "If I told you, I'd have to kill you" (ahh...the old Jamie returns!). Apparently they have to sign something saying they won't talk about BattleStations. Oops...bad mommy...again!!

He told me that he had gotten called in to his RDC's office earlier that week. He said, "I was scared to death. I kept trying to figure out what I'd done wrong...this time. When I got in there, he said, 'Palmer! Did you get a bunch of cards from people you don't know?!?' I said, 'Yes, Petty Officer.' He said, 'It's your mom that organized all that.' I just kept thinking, 'I'm going to KILL my mother.' (Of course, at this point, I was thinking, "I'm going to kill MYSELF!" for getting him in trouble). But the story has a happy ending: after giving him grief for a while, the RDC told Jamie that he thought it was "kinda cool" that all the moms got together to send pre-BattleStation cards to the recruits. Phew...thought I'd bought the farm on THAT one!!

We talked for about 20 minutes (this was only the second time I'd talked to him since he left for GL). I was PERFECTLY willing to miss ALL of my class to keep him on the phone. Finally he said, "Mom, I gotta go. If I don't get some sleep, I'm going to die." And at that moment, I believed him! He sounded like someone had reached inside him and wrung him out! Like he might just lie down where he was and go to sleep.

Anyway, I stopped by the bathroom to wipe the eyeliner and mascara streaks off my cheeks. When I walked back in my classroom, my classmates all stood up and applauded!! THAT was a wasted trip to the bathroom. I was SOBBING again!

They just kept saying how proud they were and how much they appreciated what he's doing and how much they had been praying for him. It was SO sweet. Even my instructors got involved.

When you find out how much people REALLY care, IT'S A GOOD DAY!!