My best friend’s child – a Marine!

My best friend in the whole wide world is Laquita. Laquita and her husband Kerry, have three sons: Derek, Landon and Casey. In June, Landon left home for Parris Island for Marine Boot Camp. Landon has always been a unique child, a typical middle child, with his own set of quirks. When he was little, he was obsessed with weather and was convinced a tornado was right around the corner. When he was nine, I believe, he decided he wanted to be a mortician when he got older, and began to perfect his craft even then. I've NEVER seen a child so aware of funeral homes and hearses. He actually got an invitation to an Open House, after a local funeral home redecorated. He's just always been his own person. . .

A couple of years ago, he decided he was going to go into the Marine Corps Reserve, but it just wasn't the right time. This time, it was. He didn't tell his family that he was going into the Marines, until he had all his ducks in a row, and everything was set. Before it even seemed possible, he was gone.

Laquita has shared some of his letters with me, and the growth in him has been amazing! It's evident even from his letters that he's grown up a LOT. Saturday, at my dad's birthday party, she told me that according to his schedule, he should have been in the midst of "The Crucible." I have watched the Military Channel enough to worry about him. We prayed really hard for him!

She called me today, and finally, after 9 weeks, she got to talk to him. I can't imagine what she must have felt like to get to hear him, and know that he was safe and sound. He told her his feet are blistered, and that he's NEVER been through anything like that ever in his life. In all this time, he's never once complained or said that he hated boot camp. Laquita and Kerry will be traveling to his graduation this weekend, and he comes home for 10 days. He's decided to choose active duty over the reserves, which scares us! But I can't wait to see him! I think we will all be amazed – he left us a boy, and he's coming home a man.