The Bus

After ditching the nicely organized indoor hall

with its brochures and punch

it was not hard to get a bead on the incoming cadets.

Everywhere you turned, long intricate lines of surely faces

snaked across the grounds.

Since we were out the door

moments after Nathan left the building,

we had a pretty good idea of when to expect him

at what I call the Wailing Wall. 

 This was the view from my side of the wall,

where it became increasingly more crowded as parents instincts overtook

the booklets, pamphlets and muffins inside Mitchell Hall.

I NEED TO SEE MY KID.

Nathan somehow managed to keep his sunglasses on his head which helped track him.

Like a machine, out they came,

evenly spaced, already taking on military persona.

15 feet separated us. The crazy part of me wondered what might happen

if I jumped the wall for just one last hug.

I decided I didn't want him a marked man, especially when I saw what and who

was waiting at the end of this line.

Again, the line moved much too quickly.

Why doesn't that ever happen at Meijer??

Original backpacks were handed back and the machine called in processing continued.

The Bus is awaiting these future leaders.

The meticulous shiny white buses,

windows tinted darkly, concealing the mysteries of the The Bus Ride.

This fine gentleman was the "owner" of Nathans bus

and we knew from the stories that we had heard

as well as the 20 minute movie that we watched

that once on board, this dude had one job only:

Intimidation through Screaming.

Seriously the cadre must take voice lessons

to make it through the first few days of basic without losing their voices.

As the line moved closer to the bus and away from me

I stood on tiptoe and used my zoom.

Some nice AF dude took compassion on me and said
"You can move up to the front of the line"

which brought a new fountain of tears streaming through my sunglasses

and I couldn't even say thank you.

I felt panicky and some might say

that we should have left the grounds as soon as we said our first goodbye.

Go white water rafting or something fun. For us.

My last look at my civilian baby boy

as he boarded The Bus.

And the hydraulic door firmly closed.

And I thought seeing him drive out our driveway
in the Jeep for the first time was difficult...