First things first, Edward graduated in June from Union High School in the top 5% of his class. He had applied to go to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and was accepted. They take only 1200 students each year so it is very selective. He had to under go several steps to get in, one of which was to be nominated by either a US Senator, US Congressman, or the Vice President of the United States. He received his nomination from our local Congresswoman, Jaime Herra-Buetler (she gets only one nomination per military academy each year). There are only 12 students coming from the state of Washington this year. He graduated high school on June 11th and 2 weeks later was winging his way across the country to live in Annapolis for the next 2 years (then he'll go on his mission and then report back to Annapolis for another 2 years). Ed and I couldn't fly back to be with him on his Induction Day, so we flew Jennifer up from Orlando where she was still working so she could be there for him.
She says that it was the hardest thing she has ever had to do, say good-bye to her brother and try not to cry in front of him. (She said she bawled non-stop for the entire drive back to her hotel room.) The next 8 weeks were hell for Edward. It was what they call "Plebe Summer". A Plebe is a freshman at the US Naval Academy. Basically Plebe Summer is boot camp on steroids. Edward said he had never heard or done as much yelling then as in his entire life. It was what he expected, and not at all like he expected. On I-Day, then took away his cell phone and he was only given it back for 3 scheduled calls home (each for 30 minutes) during those 8 weeks. Thus we communicated via snail-mail. Wow! that was hard. I guess it gives me a glimsp of what being a Missionary Mom is all about.
Once Plebe Summer was over, Ed and I flew out to Annapolis to spend Parents' Weekend with Edward. We planned on leaving on Wednesday afternoon and arriving early Thursday morning. Unfortunately the airline had other plans for us. After several late planes and missed connections we finally made it to Annapolis around 6pm on Thursday. Good thing we hadn't missed out on any time with Edward or I would have been screamming at the poor Customer Service reps. We first caught sight of Edward during the noon formation. As soon as they dismissed the company he took off looking for us at the designated meeting spot. When we caught up to him I will never forget the hug he gave me. I think he missed me almost as much as I missed him.
Edward showed us all around the Naval Yard and then we took him out to eat, and to eat, to the movies, and to eat. You'd think he didn't gt any food at the Academy. He had to be back on the yard every night, but we enjoyed our time together.
The academic school year started on August 15th for Edward. He was a little scared after that first day. He said that his entire AP Calculus class was covered in the first 15 minutes of his new class, and the same was with Chemistry. I think he was worried he wouldn't be able to keep up. Rest assured he is doing fine. At the end of the 6 weeks semester finals he had A's in both classes as well as the others he is taking too.
GO NAVY!! Beat Army!!!
