Three weeks in…and three weeks out…

(3 Days until 2nd phone-call and 43 days until Annapolis visit).

Well, today marks exactly three weeks since Sean entered the Academy on I-Day and it is also the three week mark before Parents’ Weekend and the end of Plebe Summer.

I have received five letters from him so far (YAY!) and each of them were dated about a week or more before its arrival date (I guess it is called snail-mail for a reason). I have sent him many, many letters and pictures which he is hopefully receiving and I have been keeping myself really busy. Each member of my family has sent Sean a letter or two over the course of these three weeks. In the case of my 6-year-old sister, she has sent him a few pictures she has drawn for him (at his request). This Sunday his family and I will be getting together once again to share a phone call with our Midshipman. We are all looking forward to it!

Now as you may have noticed by my countdown at the beginning of each post, unlike most of the Plebe girlfriends, I will not be able to make the trip out to Annapolis for Parents’ Weekend for a few reasons of my own.

First off, Parents’ Weekend happens to fall less than two weeks before I am moving out of my parents’ house and into my dorm room at Franciscan University for the first time. Taking a five day trip which includes a 26+ hour drive right before moving would probably not be the smartest decision. While I am dying to see him, I kind of have to work on moving myself out and spending time with my family.

Secondly, it is called Parents’ Weekend for a reason. It is one of the last times that the parents will be able to spend some quality time with their midshipmen, and having me (the girlfriend) could potentially take away from that. Sean’s grandparents generously offered to drive me out there and his parents offered to pay for a hotel and such while I was there which was beyond kind, but they deserve to enjoy their time together as a family for the last time that they will get for a while!

Lastly, I am making a weekend visit to Annapolis on Labor Day weekend a couple weeks after Parents’ Weekend to see Sean, and I will not be able to see my family until near Halloween…so I’ve got to get in some quality time with them now! We have some family visits to make and I also have a few more shifts to work at my summer job. As I told another Plebe girlfriend recently, I haven’t been working my behind off so I look perfect for when I finally see him…I have mostly been working my behind off so I can afford to visit my Plebe (and afford college, and trips home, and food, and I think you get the picture…)!!

So in case you were wondering why this slacker was not posting pictures from Parents’ Weekend like the majority of other Plebe girlfriends will be…this is my explanation! Sean and I discussed this over a month before he left, so he already knew that it would be over two months before we could see each other once he left. We agreed that I would wait and not attend Parents’ Weekend on the conditions that he would call me as soon as he could get his hands on a phone that weekend and that I would visit him in Annapolis as soon as I got settled in Ohio! :) I am so happy for those of you who will be able to make the trip out to see your boyfriends! Be sure to tell me how crazy and awesome the weekend was! :)

First Phone Call

(12 Days until 2nd phone call and 53 days until Annapolis visit).

 

Yesterday I was able to talk to Sean for the first time since he reported on I-Day on June 27th!  It was so wonderful to hear his voice and to know that he is doing okay.  We were both anticipating only being allowed to talk for about five minutes, and he ended up getting almost a full thirty minutes to talk to me and his family.  It was such a blessing!

He seems to be doing very well altogether!  Physically, he is doing fantastic…he is just really missing friends and family.  He said multiple times how much he needed letters and pictures from home.  So far he has received 3 out of about 8 letters that I have sent to him.  He hadn’t gotten mail in a few days and he figured it was only because his platoon was being punished.  Sean said that the weakest member of the platoon makes or breaks everyone else.  If one person messes up, everyone gets punished.  They are definitely getting a taste of what the military is like! ;)  He should be getting the rest of the letters and packages soon though.

I went over to his parent’s house for the phone call, and it was very nice.  It was very strange at first being at “Sean’s house” without him! But it was great getting to visit and catch-up with his family.  They had also received a letter from him and it had three letters enclosed for me as well!  They were from the evening of I-Day and that Saturday.

We all talked to him together on different phone-lines around the house for the first 20 minutes, and then to my surprise they said goodbye to him and let me have the last few minutes to talk to him by myself.  It was very thoughtful and I cherished those last few minutes with him.  He told me that he is counting down the days until the day I come to see him in August.  He also begged me for more pictures and letters.  While on the phone with him I tried to make him laugh as much as I could and I told him not to worry about me and that “this too shall pass”.  There was a 90 second warning and shortly thereafter a rushed, “I have to go…goodbye, I love you” and then the phone clicked off.  I was very proud…I didn’t cry until after he had hung up the phone, so he will never know! ;)

Sean will get three phone calls altogether during Plebe Summer, and the next one is on July 21st.  Supposedly, we will have thirty minutes to talk with him each time, which is wonderful!  Until then, I am writing lots of letters and I am sending care-package #2 off to Annapolis this afternoon!

Keep us in your prayers!