It might be a little long too, but well worth the read!
My heart is just bursting and I hope I never come off this high! My son, Macade, is amazing!!! We left home to go to graduation in Missouri on Wednesday the 29th. We made it to our hotel and the thoughts of seeing him the next morning and that he was only 3 miles away was enough to keep sleep at bay. When we were sitting in the auditorium waiting for it all to begin, I thought I would die. I knew he was just on the other side of the door!! So they all marched in and across the stage. He was easy to spot because he is still just so much smaller than most. I about jumped out of my seat. He sat near the front and when his platoon was called up, he didn't go with them. I was like, what the?! Sterling looks over at me and says, "he's sitting with the honorees." As 187 young men and women marched past us, tears streamed down our faces when we realized what a huge accomplishment Macade made. 7 of the company received awards, certificates, badges and promotions and there was my little Macade right in the middle receiving his award for 287 points out of a possible 300 for Physical Training! My pride can still barely be contained! He then had to stand at the stage so that people could walk by and congratulate him. I hurried to get in line but when I got to him I didn't know if he was allowed to hug me. So I asked. He stood for a minute and looked at his Drill Sergeant's and then said, "come here Mama!" and grabbed me in a great big hug.
He has grown up so much and has gotten a little bigger through the chest area. But under it all he's still Macade.
We were able to spend the rest of the day with him and he is so great!!! He is very polite and humble. Every where we went, people would be saying, "there's Moore, he's the fastest in the whole company!" The other soldiers would go out of their way to introduce him to their families. They would be talking about him as we walked by and Macade just would keep walking like they weren't talking about him. I asked if it was weird for them to stop him 10 times in the Walmart and he said, "every where I go it's like this. I'm getting real used to it." He would be so nice when he met people and say, "Thank you so much Mam, it's a pleasure meeting you." I gotta tell you, it was WEIRD! But so nice!
Macade introduced us to a couple of his Drill Sergeants too. One of them told me he just could not keep up with Macade. He said he was awesome fast! Then Macade took us to meet the Captain over the whole Company. He shook Sterling's hand and then turned right to me and said, "you've done a good job with this one Mom". I thought my heart would burst with pride right there! Are you kidding!? It was amazing! He also told us that the PT award was the best to have because it would open many doors.
When we said goodbye that night, I told Macade that I wasn't crying out of worry or that I would miss him too much, but that my pride was overflowing!
The next morning they flew him to South Carolina where he is hoping to start training really soon. He can't sit still too long these days. He will be there for 12 more weeks and then who knows what the future holds for him.
OK so my keyboard is shorting out from taking on water, so I will leave you with these pictures of my son, the American Soldier.
