Weigh Anchor!

Yay!

   Finally, the day after my sailor's 23rd birthday, Anthony set sail! Yahoo! Aboard the first vessel built to carry helicopters, Anthony will take a one week journey to North Carolina and back. He said its for "sea trials", whatever that may mean. All I know is this is what Anthony has really been wanting since he left. Not his first choice of vessel but oh well, its better than schooling. I'm so happy that he is finally on a ship out at sea. I'm even more happy that it is only for one little week. Just enough time for my sailor to get his feet wet (no pun intended). Sleeping on board, working in the engine room, wearing the coveralls instead of the working uniform, the whole nine yards. Things have been going much better in Norfolk then at NNPTC. Anthony says he has had three people mistake him for a midshipman. Which means that Anthony puts off the vibe that he is training to be an officer. Perhaps others think this because of his speech or the way he carries himself. I'm glad they see him differently than the other MMs. Being a former Nuke and all, Anthony says his fellow shipmates always tell him to stop using such big words. He's making a good impression of which I am very proud. 
   What's worth being even more proud is the fact that this marks Anthony's first completed year in the Navy. One year ago today my favorite person left his home and all he had to pave a new path. A path which I commend him for paving. He could have taken the easy road he was already on but he decided that wasn't challenging enough for him. He wanted to do something big. He left for boot with a somewhat positive attitude. The hotel he had to stay at before he left always feels sad when I pass it by. It reminds me of the last time he was a normal civilian like me, before he had to learn a new vocabulary, ranks, creases and folds. Though, he is not vastly different then when he left that day. He is still the same old Anthony but with a crispy uniform and a new place to live and work. When I stop and think of all that has happened in this past year it makes me thankful to be a part of this experience. From letters at boot camp, to graduations, to coming home for Christmas and surprising me at work, I wouldn't trade this for anything.
    I will miss Anthony being in Goose Creek, though. Charleston is such a nice town that I would like to visit again. I will always remember it in the light of the Navy. Now I get to see Virginia, the next chapter in the book of a sailor. I am very proud of his progress so far, despite his falling out with NNPTC. I know he was smart enough to handle the material but the rigorous landscape of the course proved too difficult. After all, that school has just been ranked above Harvard Law. Harvard! No wonder! School just isn't Anthony's forte. Now he gets to do actual Navy things. So exciting! I asked him if he would ever consider actually being a midshipman but that requires going to school again. As we learned before that is just not a good idea. While it would be nice to call him officer, have a fancier uniform and more respect, history would just repeat itself. No use in getting into another mess. All my sailor wanted was to be out on a boat, and finally the time has come. I sure hope it was everything he wanted it to be.
   I haven't had contact with Anthony for about three days now. I'm very anxious to hear how his first journey went. There are so many questions I have for him, and some news from the home front. I want to ask him about everything. How he slept, how he ate, what work he did, if they hazed him, etc. I'm just dying to know everything. I can't wait until he returns in a few days. I am surprised at how little of a reaction I'm having to this no contact. It's almost like it doesn't bother me. I don't know whether to consider this a good thing or a bad thing. It really surprises me that I don't have the urge to text him every hour or call him at night. I just live my days like this is a normal thing. Should I be more bothered that I haven't spoken to him in three days? Maybe it's the boot camp mentality coming back. I had to bear with it then then so maybe I'm just referring back to that setting.
    Aside from that, I will be patiently waiting by my phone to receive word from my sailor. I can't wait to hear all about his first time at sea!