Tired

So I'm exhausted. I had to be up at 5:30 yesterday to see my brother graduate from the Navy yesterday (basic training). I got to spend about 4-5 hours with him before he had to leave again for Pensacola for another 4 months. I didn't think I had missed him that much until the day of graduation. The entire ceremony was almost 2 hours, and then finally at the end they're all standing in their formation being handed their coats and the speaker calls liberty and you just see 2,000+ people rush out of the stands to see their sailors :') I just remember hearing the word liberty and jumping up and running with my brother's girlfriend to go see him. We got down there and just started searching. It was pretty overwhelming seeing him standing there after not talking to him or seeing him for 2 months. Somehow, and I still don't know how, my mom was already there hugging him. I rushed up with Stacy (his gf) and we hugged him pretty hard. Then we got to go home with him and we hung out with family for a few hours before he left with his girlfriend for much needed alone time. It was a pretty emotional day, and I am surprised by how much I miss him. Luckily, once he's done with the 4 months in Florida he gets to come home for a week, so I'm looking forward to that a lot.

As much as I miss him, and the small part of me that wishes he never left, I'm still so proud of him. The training has helped him a lot, and I can already tell he's changed. As Stacy predicted, he left a boy and came back a man :) I already put on my "My Brother is in the Navy" bumper sticker on my car. Now it's just waiting 4 more years until he's out before I can finally feel like he's safe and in one place again. I'm pretty sure I can do it :)

My brother, the sailor!