A week of flags, dog tags and bugle calls.

The first day of the graduation festivities was the family day debriefing. It was supposed to be at Hilton Field but all the monsoon rains made it switch to the Solomon Center.

Going on little sleep we all file into the building.

I may be a little excited about being reunited with my Marcus ;)

We got there very early so we could make sure we had good seats. Normally, if the event is at Hilton Field, all the soldiers march out in front of us while we are being debriefed. Then they tell us that the soldiers have to remain in formation until their family members find them resulting in a mad dash from bleachers to field.

.

Because of the wet conditions all the soldiers were waiting for us at their barracks. F Co building was a little over 4 blocks away. We first go to the car to drive over. There was only one exit from the parking lot and it quickly became a stand still. I waited for about 30 seconds and then declared to everyone in the car that I was just going to walk/run instead. Michelle trekked it with me. I got pretty bad blisters but it was so worth it. Marcus called and I told him I was heading his way (they got their cell phones back FINALLY). He waited for a little bit and then decided to meet me along the way. I had just turned onto Magruder Avenue and I saw him across the street, traffic was busy so I had to back track to the light and then cross to the other side. I could not put into words all the emotions I was feeling at seeing him again.

The PX was across the street and when the rest of the family finally got out of traffic, we met them there. For family day he only had an on post pass, so whatever we were doing we had to stay at Ft. Jackson. Marcus had been pretty sheltered during basic so there was a lot of the base he hadn't even seen yet. Marcus's grandparents (Richard and Virginia) and his Dad and sister (Ed and Michelle) all came to see him graduate.

There was this really pretty lake that was there, it had picnic tables and a dock that went out over the water. He spent a good deal of that first afternoon just talking, calling home and enjoying the wonderful weather. Overcast but still warm because of all the humidity, so relaxing.

It's official.

We are now an Army family.

Marcus told us the reason why the stars are on the other side then you normally see them. When you are going into battles, presumably flying the flag before you, the flag would be flying behind you in the wind. So they have the flag that way, like they are flying into battle, always ready to go.

It was so wonderful to be with him again. It was kinda weird that first day because there is a strict PDA rule while in uniform. Some people could get away with hand holding here or there, but Marcus and I felt most comfortable just following the rules. We both didn't want to do anything to get him into trouble. You can hug and kiss at homecomings or farewells, but that is it. We mostly just stared at each other all day, trying to take it all in.

Graduation Day! They held it at Hilton Field. The bleachers were enormous and we had it at max capacity. 600 soldiers were graduating from D, E, and F companies.

They were bused in the far side of the field and then marched in at the start of the ceremony

Richard and Virginia had front row seats. The pictures I took weren't really that good, and quite honestly I didn't take a whole lot during the ceremony because I wanted to take it all in. It was majestic. The army band was out of this world and they all moved in perfect unison. One of my favorite parts was when they called out the Soldiers Creed. All 600 saying the creed at the exact same time, you could have heard a pin drop after that.

After graduation we all headed back to the F Co building to sign out our soldiers for their off post pass.

This was Marcus's home for the past 10 weeks.

The street sign for their building.

When you turned down Magruder drive they had the whole street lined with all the state flags. It looked so cool.

These were some of the guys that Marcus hung out with the most. Pierce, Newberry and Ortiz. Newberry and Ortiz were battle buddies who had their bunk right across from Marcus. All the guys gave them the celebrity name of BerryTiz. I asked them to get together for a group shot while we were all waiting to sign them out. They are all so funny. Newberry is standing right next to Marcus and he is pretty short, as is his WHOLE family. So after I took this picture he pointed to his Mom asking the guys to look in that direction so she could take a picture. He said "Look over at my Mom, she's right there. I get my height from her." His mom is like 4' 8". We all busted up. He is short but he totally owns it.

Gotta love those Army issue glasses. They are the geekiest things I have ever seen, very Stever Urkel.

When they got off the bus from graduation, they all marched in formation to the front of the building shouting a cadence while they marched. Like what you see in the movies, where one person shouts it and then they either copy of respond, all in time with the marching. Each platoon had one that was their favorite so all four platoons marched up saying their respective cadences.

They they all stood there while waiting on the information to be signed out. After that we had a pretty fun day of sight seeing around Columbia and having time just to ourselves. It was a perfect day. All the soldiers who had night passes had to be back by 4 am for morning formation. Marcus and 24 other guys were all headed to CA for the Defense Language Institute. Their flight left later that day.

.

He has been able to keep his cell phone now that he is in Monterrey, which has been awesome. We have talked every day since I dropped him off. As of right now he is registered to take the Korean class starting the first week of November. They are doing orientation and light duty between now and then. I guess the PT really gets amped up too. He already loves it there, he said the atmosphere is wonderful and his leaders seem really cool.

.

On our flight to Charlotte we made friends with a family sitting in front of us. Mr and Mrs Padilla were headed to Columbia to see their son, Noel, graduating. Noel's girlfriend was traveling with them too. He is in Marcus's company, but different platoon. We kept bumping into them the whole week, sat by them during graduation and then I talked with them more when we were both dropping off our soldiers after having the night pass. They are so nice. It turns out when Marcus got into his room at the DLI (Defense Language Institute), Noel Padilla was already in there. They got assigned as roomies! It was so perfect, they are both hard workers and are trying to get through the next phase as soon as possible.

.

It was such a wonderful week. I am so glad that I was able to go and see a little bit of the world that Marcus was living in. I am so excited for all the new things that we will be facing, together as a family!