The day I left home.

I still recall the day I left for active duty in the navy. I had enlisted in the navy when I was a junior in high school. In the summer between that year and my senior year I went to Great Lakes, IL for basic training, then home then to Jacksonville, FL for seamanship training. It was a very interesting summer.

At the end of my high school life, when I had to put away the things of a child and start my life as an adult I went right off to the fleet. 1960 was a very interesting time in the United States. There were high tensions as the cold war threaten to heat up, the U2 shot down on a spy mission, Cuba becoming a thorn in our side. It was during this trouble times that I packed my seabag and left home.

The thing I remember most about leaving was my mother, standing on the porch as I climed in the car and as dad pulled out of the driveway, she was crying. I didn't understand why she was crying. Didn't she know that I would be back? That I was still a kid going off on an adventure. Well, she knew much more the I did. I really never understood why she was crying.

Then came the day my son went on his mission to Brazil and I understood. Who ever said, "you can't go home again" hit the nail right on the head. My life changed without my even noticeing. I was no longer a child. I grow up, started thinking of things I never even imagined. On my first leave I came home and before my leave was over I told my mom it was time for me to go back to my ship.

My childhood home was not my home, my ship was my home. It was there that I lived, ate, worked and slept. Please understand, I loved mom, apple pie and the old homestead but it was not my life. My mom knew that would happen, so she cried as her last child, her baby, took that first step down life's highway. Now my sons have taken that step. Yes, I cried but mostly inside. It took a couple of months before I could go into my son's room and put things away. I knew. I was happy when my other son married but I knew. He would soon have his own family and I would be "Grandpa" to his children. I knew and there was nothing I could do about it but say, I did the best I could.