Reunion

I am finally reunited with my son. The week long NJROTC Leadership Academy he attended held its graduation ceremony this weekend. My husband, daughter, in-laws and I enjoyed the event.

I was the first to spot my son in the crowd of cadets. He smiled when he saw me and I knew then that he had a good experience. All my cares and worries were laid to rest.

The cadets performed some parade moves for everyone before we moved to the stands to watch the graduation ceremony and the silver cords handed out.

Once we were seated in the stands the 3 platoons of cadets performed some more parade moves for us.

After the parade moves it was time for cord presentation. Each cadet was called and given a silver cord to wear on their right shoulder which signifies that they have attended and graduated from the Leadership Academy.

When the ceremony was over the family members were able to go on the field and meet with their cadet. The first thing I said to mine was happy birthday and then gave him a kiss. He looked a little older, was it the birthday or the leadership course? He said he had forgotten about his birthday on the day of his birthday because he was so busy and tired. He remembered it later that evening after asking another cadet what day it was. We celebrated it when we got home.

My son had many stories to share about his week long adventure... like...the cadets were introduced to a sailing course and my son, along with most of the other cadets, ended up in the "Drink" a few times and their heads were introduced to the Boom once or twice before the course ended. He also had to pull Fire Watch once from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. My son's favorite parts of the leadership course were the water survival event and the two mile motivational runs in the streets of St. Petersburg.

It is good to have my son back home. I am so proud of him. I am looking forward to hearing more of the stories he will tell me about his time at Leadership Academy.