Letters

We have gotten several letters. I'm not going to type them all up since they are a bit mushy at times, and very long. :)

But I will say Jereme is doing alright. It is way harder than he thought.

He has his ACU's now, and all his other uniform gear. The boots aren't too bad he said, and as of his last letter he still hasn't gotten any blisters, just a couple hot, sore spots.

They have all been punished for various things, though it doesn't sound like he has been the cause of anything so far. Anytime one member of the platoon does something wrong they all pay though.

They had to hold their full water canteens out in front of them using only their index fingers for about 20 minutes. Another thing they had to do was hold their water canteens and "smart book" up above their heads for about 30 minutes. He said he made it about 25 before needing to take a quick break. In his line of vision he was the only one that made it that long.

The working out has been easy, less than what he was doing while training at home. However when they get in trouble and get "smoked" he gets a really good work out in then.

So far he hasn't had his bed torn apart or his locker tipped over. Although it did get knocked over when another was thrown at it.

He hasn't made a ton of friends as most of the soldiers are young kids who think they are cool. He does have one pretty good friend though, Spector, but he has asked for prayer for him. Spector has a heart mummer I guess and he will find out next week if he gets to stay in or if they are kicking him out. Spector and his wife are pretty worried because they have no idea what they will do if he is discharged. The DS (Drill Sergeant) says he has about a 50% chance of staying. Please pray lots for him.

Jereme called today, we got to talk for 3 minutes... actually it was 2 minutes and 59 seconds. They are still in the first phase right now though, white phase, so hopefully when then move on to red phase we will get more phone time.

He said they did the gas chamber, it was awful, and they had a breathing tube shoved down their noses... gross...

Being there has really changed his way of thinking. He has apologised for taking the kids and I, as well as the life we had, for granted. He asks about the kids all the time, and sounded excited when I mentioned bringing them with me to see him Graduate in October.

October 16th is his graduation date, we are going to fly late on Tuesday and then get there Wednesday morning. My mother In Law is going to go with me so she can watch as well, and also so she can help with the kids. We will rent a car, and after he graduates we get to drive him to Fort Gordon, where he will do AIT. I am pretty excited about that since that is where we will be living if we get to more to Georgia with him.

This has been way harder than either of us imagined it would be. But we are making it through one day at a time.

If anyone plans to go watch him graduate I need to know 3 or 4 weeks before hand so that I can let him know, that way he can be sure to get enough tickets for everyone.

He is feeling lonely and home sick, so I know any letter would be appreciated... and he is trying to reply to everyone that writes. If you do write try to include a "return envelope" with address, and stamp already on it, as well as a blank paper. The stuff I sent him with got ruined, and I did send him more, but he is using a lot more than he expected too...

Thanks for all the continued prayers!