May 2017 was the year that my life and my family’s life changed forever… We weren’t expecting anything like this, but once we got the phone call it changed everything. But first let’s start from the beginning… It was an average day my family and I were at home doing our own thing, I hear my moms phone start to ring. Obviously I didn’t think anything of it but the words I heard after she picked up was something I never thought she would say. Immediately everyone came running to the living room to find my mom sitting on the couch crying, the words we heard made everyone in the room speechless, ” Noe is now property of the United States Army” Those are the words that I will never forget following by the feeling that came with it.
As we all pilled into the car all you heard was my mom sobbing and my dad trying to comfort her, although it seemed like nothing was working. In the background you will hear my three other brother and myself sniffling in the back seat on our way to say goodbye to our brother. In that moment it seemed like everything was falling apart, we’ve never expect someone from our family to join the army. As some might describe my family we are unbreakable, we all have such a strong family bond that nobody would have thought of something this big would happen.
As we arrived he was standing outside the building where the rest of the men were standing with their family’s dreading that last goodbye, as we approached him you can tell he was crying, by the way his eyes were puffy, the color of redness in his eyes , and the sniffling that he continuously was having, as well as the tears rolling down he’s check. He was waiting for us with tears in his eyes. It was hard to imagine him leaving for a long time I couldn’t bring myself to think that way. Just the thought of not having one of my oldest brother not here anymore, not being able to make fun of him or even just having him around, made it even harder to think about.
We all started giving him hugs asking him when he will be back, how long did he sign for, why did you sign up. Pretty much all the questions that we could think of. He was very calm about it making the rest of us feel better. Eventually we came to find out that he was going to boot camp for 6 months then getting stationed where ever they put him.
He also added that his boot camp was in Georgia and we were able to see him on the weekends that they allowed him. All of a sudden the bus came to take away the group that was going. The man that came out of the bus started yelling out orders to the troops that were getting on the bus, we only had a few minutes to say goodbye. Quickly everyone started giving their last hugs telling him that we loved him and we will see him soon. As you looked around to the other family’s you can feel the pain and sadness that every person was going through. It was honestly one of the hardest things that my family and I had to face, giving him that last hug until the next time we see him, which wouldn’t be for months.
As he started walking to the bus we were all standing in a small group not knowing what was going to happen once he got on the bus. He had only a few seconds until he got on the bus he looked back at the sniffling/crying family he will soon leave behind, he waved that last goodbye and then entered the bus. Now you would think to yourself “Why not follow the bus” Well trust me we were going to but they had all the family’s stay back and wait for the buses to leave, They had two police cars in front and two police cars in the back to keep the bus safe and to make sure nobody was following them to the airport.
We all walked back to the car knowing it wouldn’t be the same after this, nobody was talking all the way home, it was complete silents that the only thing that you would hear is the sniffling of everyone crying, the cars passing by, and the motor of the car. The drive home was finally over, it felt like years getting home. As we pulled into the drive way and stepped out of the car, we stepped into a whole new life style from that point on.
Now lets fast-word… It’s been about two years since my brother joined the army and our lifestyle has completely changed. Ever since he left he got stationed in Colorado and you may be thinking “Wow Colorado that must have been so lucky” and your right it was extremely lucky because he could have gotten shipped off to anywhere else. Colorado is pretty much are second home at this point, we visit him every chance we get but we are only allowed to go down there when he’s allowed to have family fly out to see him, but sometimes he comes home! And just for those three days that he’s home it feels like the missing part of our family is back and everything is back to normal. Although when it’s time for him to leave it feels like the same way it felt the very first time he left, it’s hard but we always make the time we all have as a family the best it could possibly be.
The way this impacted my life was being able to change the way I lived and the constant worrying my family and I have about my brother. I’ve always put my family first before anything, but ever since my brother left it was like my family grew closer together helping each other out whenever we need it especially if it involves my brother, In my eyes family will always be first that will never change.