The big day tomorrow!

[Margaret in CO]

Tomorrow is Service Selection at USNA--the Firsties find out where they will be serving for the next 5-20 years! Some Firsties already know they have med school or subs, but not much else. Please pray--we're hoping for a pilot slot! They say that the "Four years by the Bay" is a roller coaster--for Mids and Moms!

[Kareni]

Sending positive thoughts that your daughter will have a great outcome!

Regards,
Kareni

[Blue Hen]

Will do. It seems like just yesterday I was reading about your dd deciding to attend USNA. Time does fly.

Carole

[Margaret in CO]

They say there are three parts to a USNA stay: Plebe Summer, Plebe Year and the last 3 years--on the home stretch!

[Sharon in MD]

I'll will say a prayer for you too! I can well imagine it is an exciting and stress filled few days!

:grouphug:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Best of luck for her. Do they get to pick school slots and ships now too or is this only when they find out which service they get?

I can totally picture each and every Service Selection night, from shaving Marines' heads when I was a plebe to consoling a heartbroken friend who had an NFO slot and then lost it (because of a computer glich) to proudly posing with my prospective ship's ballcap and being welcomed into the club by all the O6 SWOs.

I can also remember being a plebe and crying on the phone with my mom because I didn't know what major to pick. BZ, mom. You're almost there.

[Margaret in CO]

Oh, no, it's just STARTING! She got it--PILOT!!!! This is what she went to the academy for--we knew she didn't have her 2nd pick--Nuke SWO because she didn't get a Nuke interview--we were just worried that it was going to be NFO. She would make a good NFO, but boy, she wanted pilot! No ship selection tonight--just SS. Lots of good pics of shaved-heads Marines and a few shaved-eyebrows SEALS. Big company party tonight! Please remember, all, to pray for those who are not celebrating tonight--heard of a Mid who got his 5th choice--ouch!

[Karen in CO]

:party::party::party:
That is awesome.

[Kareni]

Wow, a pilot! Congratulations to your daughter, Margaret. And condolences to those who did not get their desires.

Regards,
Kareni

[Heather in WI]

Margaret,

I am so thrilled for your daughter! Congratulations to her for all of her hard work and determination that got her to this point! (and to you for raising such a fine young lady!)

:hurray:

[JFS in IL]

Congratulations!!!! That is BIG news!!!!

[Michelle in AL]

How wonderful and exciting!:party:

[CynthiaOK]

Fantastic! It's wonderful to see our children fulfill their dreams - congratulations!

[kate in seattle]

Oh wow, Margaret - that is WONDERFUL news!!
Congrats to you and your daughter.

Yes, the service academy is a wild roller coaster ride. we've been down and we've been up and we are heading down again - he's got some tough classes 2nd semester and recognition in March.

But it is all coming to a close for your daughter. I am sure this day seemed very far away when she went away for those summer seminars. Where will she do UPT?

[JennW in SoCal]

WOW!!! And congratulations!!!! And wow again, and that is really REALLY cool!

What kind of pilot? What does she get to fly?!!! Will she be eventually flying off carriers?

And what a bewildering collection of initials -- NFO, SWO and UPT. I don't understand what those mean, but I understand pilot!!

Congratulations!!

[Margaret in CO]

She'll head to Pensacola after graduation and commissiong in May. She'll have a wonderful roomie of a sponsor sister. UPT is undergrad pilot training--AF is a bit different than Navy--my Mid won't have any pilot training until after graduation. She already holds a private pilot license and loved her time at AFA doing jump and soaring. SWO is Surface Warfare Officer--driving frigates, destroyers, etc. My dad was SWO. NFO is Naval Flight Officer. Remember Goose in Top Gun? He was an NFO--they run the computers and do navigation. AFA tells their cadets a year sooner than Navy--2nd Class Cadets find out in the spring. Navy doesn't tell them until First Class year. What they get to fly all depends on how they do in training.

[kate in seattle]

Not sure why the air force calls it UPT but they don't go until they have graduated from the Academy. and there is JFPT (Joint forces pilot training). I know Navy and Army pilots also attend UPT and there are some international students at the joint forces one. I figure I don't have to worry about it for a few more years!

[Jane in NC]

More congratulations! Your children have amazing stories, Margaret. What a wonderful job you have done. So here's a big pat on the back for you.

Wow.
Jane

[creekland]

Congratulations! Pilot slots are not easy to get (as you know).

[Basketmaker Amy]

Wow! Congrats to your whole family! I am happy for all of you. The years do go by quickly!

[Susie-Knits]

Congrats! It is so good to hear about "successful" homeschool graduates. Love it when dreams come true!
Susie

[Katia]

Margaret, that is so exciting to hear! Many congratulations. You have amazing children.

How is your older dd doing? I'm keeping her in my prayers.

[Tokyomarie]

Congratulations to your daughter!

[Brenda in MA]

Way to go Margaret & dd!

I, too, enjoy reading stories of how past hsers are doing in college and beyond.

We'll keep her in our prayers,
Brenda

[Georgia in NC]

Congratulations to your daughter! That is soooo awesome!! I'm sure you are all like this... :D lol

Georgia

[JennW in SoCal]

Thank you for explaining all those abbreviations! My FIL was in the airforce, and I'm always trying to figure out what half the signs on base mean. My favorite, in Hawaii, is CINCPACFLT -- I think that is right. Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet??

I am especially thrilled to learn of any young woman going to military flight school -- I know it is far more common these days, and maybe I'm showing my age, but I still want to give an extra cheer to women pilots, firefighters and police officers!

[transientChris]

Yes, Navy is very hard for non Navy to understand. I do fine with either AF or Army but Navy is a totally different matter.:)

[Margaret in CO]

Margaret, that is so exciting to hear! Many congratulations. You have amazing children.

How is your older dd doing? I'm keeping her in my prayers.

Thanks--this is a hard week for her I'm sure--they'd been at her fiance's for Thanksgiving for a number of years. She's currently off kayaking in Utah--it drives me crazy...

[Katia]

Thanks--this is a hard week for her I'm sure--they'd been at her fiance's for Thanksgiving for a number of years. She's currently off kayaking in Utah--it drives me crazy...

I'm so sorry...for all of you. I really can't even image that she would get into a kayak ever again. Wow. You are a strong woman.

Glad things are going so well with your other dc.

[Margaret in CO]

She still kayaks because it makes her feel connected to Ed, but I imagine she cried a lot on this trip. She's with some very dear friends, most of whom knew Ed closely. I'm sure they cried too.

[Renee in FL]

Will do. It seems like just yesterday I was reading about your dd deciding to attend USNA. Time does fly.

Carole

:iagree:

[Margaret in CO]

She still kayaks because it makes her feel connected to Ed, but I imagine she cried a lot on this trip. She's with some very dear friends, most of whom knew Ed closely. I'm sure they cried too.

They got off the river a day early yesterday--no more fun rapids and it was COLD! They rowed through the night. She's cleaned up, warmed up and packed up, and headed back to Boulder. She's very depressed.

[Kareni]

Margaret,

It must have been a challenging trip for your daughter and for you too, I imagine. I hope that her mood will lighten as time goes on.

Sending good thoughts.
Regards,
Kareni

[Nan in Mass]

(((Margaret and daughter)))

[Valerie(TX)]

Margaret,

Congrats to you and your dd! I wish her the very best, and pat yourself on the back, too!!! Proud mama, indeed!

I have watched what you posted about being angry at God for your dd and family's loss. I'm so very sorry!! I know it is almost unspeakably difficult to feel all those very real, very valid emotions, and, in my loss, it was worse when I felt so guilty for being angry with God.

Please be kind to yourself as you go through this. I have been praying for your family, that God would miraculously enable you to know His love and grace, in spite of the circumstances, and that you would be comforted.

Sending many prayers up for you all!

Lovingly,

Valerie