Family Day was… umm, interesting.

We made it to family day at Ft. Jackson this past Thursday and Friday. I think my past experiences have colored the expectations I had painted in my mind. Now this is most definitely not my first family day or graduation experience. Between brothers, sons, and husband I have been to many across the branches. This one, however, left me mentally exhausted.

My handsome soldier!

It wasn’t that they graduated an entire battalion at once (1300 soldiers and around 8000 family members ON post for Family Day!!) Granted those things played into wearing me out over the two days of driving around Columbia SC and Ft. Jackson — needless to say it gets a little crowded when you stay on base with about 9000 of your new closest friends!

The show for family day was … as the title says, “umm, interesting.” Each family day/graduation I have been to involves some sort of skit. I have never quite understood why anyone would assume that a stand full of anxious family members would want to watch simulated battle. Trust me when I say that neurotic mothers across the Country have played out every possible battle scene in their heads and they are still more grand than any skit the Army can throw at you.

This little skit really took me back though. The last two skits I watched were at Ft. Benning. We saw purple and green smoke… big “boom” sounds and guys coming out with AK47s aimed at the crowd. No one ever cowers. We trust and know they are not real, and even if they were we trust the proficiency and professionalism of our soldiers. That’s not the issue. The family day skit I watched last Thursday had a simulated battle scene that included a soldier falling to the ground after taking a hit (I assumed it was from a bullet).

The soldier lay face down as the rest of the unit secured the scene. The soldier lay face down as they checked the terrorist for further explosives and to see if they were alive. The soldier lay face down while they did the rest of their maneuvers. The point is the soldier was face down and I could not take my eyes off of him.

As a blue star mother who is now deep into the second deployment I can not tell you how many times I have had to actively fight anticipatory stress and the images that are associate with it. I can not tell you how many times I have read stories, real stories, about battle scenes and had to fight the vision of my own soldier’s face being toward the ground in that very scenario.

I don’t know. I felt that 30 minutes or so that I watched a scene I would rather not have had to watch was wasted when it could have been spent reuniting with my son. In all honesty that’s what family day is all about, isn’t it? I know my soldier may one day have to fight in a real war. Maybe I am the odd woman out, but I don’t need the simulated scenes to help me feel engaged. Just give me some time, my soldier, and a place to talk.

I jokingly told my soldier to let his chain of command know that perhaps a chorus line of dancing soldiers would be more entertaining. He said that doesn’t brief well. I guess it depends on your perspective.

Regardless, we went. We saw him. We spent time with him. We heard his stories. We told him what has happened since he left for training. Really, this is what it’s all about. All of the loud noises, drama, and guns aside, you learn quickly that what matters most is taking time in those small moments to just listen to his voice, memorize his smile, and thank God for measuring time in seconds and minutes.