Mama's Corner: Our Road Trip to Chicago, Ill.

We left at 4am (ish) on a rainly Wednesday the 23rd. We all piled into a rental mini van and headed our way to Chicago. We went through Texas and saw a bunch of stinky ole cows. Going through Oklahoma was scary, because I didn't know what to expect. There's nothing there, either. Just a bunch of flat land. We got to Missouri and it was beautiful. There were trees all around, water and it ever much reminded me of NY. We stayed there which was more than our half point mark. Charles drove most of the way, because I forgot my ID at home. I couldn't believe I did that. Especially, since you need ID to get on Base. We ran around looking for the kids proof of identity and when it came to me, I was the one that ended up with out one. I took it out of my wallet to go get Brevy from school on the Friday before. This way I figured I didn't have to lug my purse with me. I ended up traveling with out it. Smart, huh??! Ugh. So, anyway, Charles' dad came with us. He only drove a couple of hours the entire time though. So 23 hours of driving for poor Charles. We stayed the night in where the next morning we got up to leave and head for Chicago. We got there and ate dinner and crashed. The next morning we woke up early and left for the base. We arrived to searches and ID checks just to get on the base. They had a K9 cop there and we had to open our truck, hood, and all doors so he could sniff anything out. Of course we didn't have anything to sniff out, but it was necessary. I'd rather they search everyone then not! Once we passed inspection we entered the building to stand in an endless line. We moved slowly and the kids were tired and hungry. We actually all were. We arrived to the front of the line to give them the name and division of the person we were seeing. After that we went in another line that lead out of the building and into another building where the ceremony was being held. Inside the building there were bleachers and signs of the SR divisions. We got in the right line and tried to find our seating. I looked up and saw Marisa's mom and rest of her family already sitting down. We greeted them and sat down in our own spot. We sat and waited I think two hours before any signs of the ceremony started. We knew we were early and wanted to be so we'd get a seat. We sat there until after 12pm. I have no idea what time they SR came out, but they did and the ceremony was long and the kids could have cared less. Marisa, was standing in front of us and I got really good pictures of her . It was hard to make her out though with just your eye. You needed a focus license to clearly see her and even that wasn't as clear as I would have liked it. It was still nice though and we still enjoyed being there. In the middle of the ceremony there was this girl who passed out that was standing close to Marisa. She hit the floor while still in parade rest. I felt so bad for her. No one could leave the formation. It took a couple of seconds for the "people in charge" to get her to her feet. She stood up eventually and walked out with some help. Everyone clapped for her, but no one else moved. You can't. Poor thing. That must have been hard for her family to watch. You can't run to her. You can't go out on the floor. Everything else just continued as she lay there on the floor. I felt bad and still do. We don't know how her condition was afterward, we didn't hear a thing about her. There was 811 graduates there plus their families. After the service was over we got to see Marisa. I feared that we wouldn't, but they released them and I walked up first to try to make my way through the mob of people to see if I could find her. All of a sudden I see this happy girl go flying past me (kind of) and run up to Charles with the biggest hug ever. She was in tears by then and I gave her a big hug and kiss on the check. I saw her mom coming in next. She looked like a grown young lady; standing there in her white dress outfit and just so overwhelmed with emotion. I couldn't explain to her how proud of her I was. I was just standing there with a big smile and her family surrounded her and was talking to her. She had her grandma there (from her mom's side) and her step-dad there as well. They talked to her mostly and we stood there with her awkwardly trying to get a word in edge wise. We left that area and made our way outside. It must have taken 30 minutes to walk a couple of feet. All the families and their sons,daughters, sisters, brothers, etc. Stood with them and we made our way back to the car. Brevy, Bones, and Aiy, were being awful. They were hungry, tired, and ansty and couldn't stand in the line to save their lives. They played with their Navy hats that Charles purchased for them. Gpa, Charles, and I, kept yelling at them to stay put, but we all knew why they wouldn't. We decided to go back to our hotels to change our clothes and all (yes all) of us would take Marisa out to eat. We met up at Lone Star (Risa's favorite) and we were going to try to get a table for 10 people. They told us the wait would be about 45 min. So we sat down and looked around. Marisa, joined us and we hogged her as her mom and g'ma went to the restroom. Her step dad came back and said we could split up into two tables and eat right away. We decided to do so, since we were all so hungry. Marisa looked like she wanted to sit with us (gpa, me, and the kids), but Charles hugged her and said it would be alright for her to sit with her mom. She did and we sat behind her. We kept looking over the seat and talking to her while we waited for our food. She wanted to know what we'd be doing after we ate. We hadn't planned anything really...Just to see MJ statue and down town a bit. We told her we didn't know and asked what she'd be doing. She said they were going to see the Sears Tower and go back to Base. We agreed that we'd met her there, because she wanted to spend time with us, too. I thought that was a great idea. So, we took pictures of her again and left to go back to the hotel to change clothing. We were on our way when she called us to tell us that their plans had changed. With all of the traffic there, she'd never make it back in time to the Base. Their Liberty time was from 12 noon until 6pm, she had a short period of time to spend with us. So, her step-dad said we should go to the Botanic Gardens. We were heading in the same direction so we all quickly met up there. The sky was dark and it looked like it was going to rain. We found Marisa taking pictures by some water and I quickly got in on the photo taken as well. We stayed there for about 45 min-1 hour. It was beautiful. Flowers every where, water. You can't go wrong. The kids were running around on the grass and every one was having a good time. Especially, Risa. After that was over we said our goodbyes. She asked what time we were leaving and we said we weren't sure. She seemed like she wanted to see us one more time before we had to head back to NM. We asked what she'd be doing in the am and it turns out that she'd have Liberty tomorrow from 8am until evening. So, we agreed to meet her at the Base and we'd spend the am at the Navy shop to get souvenirs before we had to go on our long journey. We were thinking breakfast, but everyone wanted to shop. Saturdays adventure was busy. After shopping and buying out the Navy store we said our goodbyes. Marisa, gave us her Navy picture and we took some more pictures as a family. Leaving Risa we headed downtown Chi town and took a look around. Lots of traffic, but we went to see the United Center where Michael Jorden's statue was. Charles, has been wanting to see this statue since I've known him. That's all he's ever talked about. So, we went there and took lots of pictures. After that we drove around to see what there was. We were going to go to the Sears Tower, but Aiyana didn't want any part of the heights. She started to cry and got upset. So, we left it at that and decided to go home, because we were all hungry and weren't in a good spot for food. We walked a couple of blocks, but didn't find anything good. Eh, so we headed towards the hotel and went to eat at Michaels. Michaels has really good burgers. We ate for $35.00, burgers and fries for the adults and the kids got grilled cheese. Ouch, but it was good. :) We went "home" and took the kids swimming so that G'pa could have some quite time. The next morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and headed on our long journey back home. It was a short trip, but we cramped a lot of stuff into it. A lot of eating out, a TON of eating out, kids driving us crazy, and a lot of pictures to show for it (500+ pictures). It was nice seeing Marisa again. We probably won't get to see her until November when she comes home for "vacation and liberty time." We arrived in NM on Sunday around 8ish pm. Now that we're all home we've unpacked and I've done a ton of laundry. I keep looking at her picture and wondering what she's doing at the moment. She's now able to have her laptop and cell phone. Keeping in touch won't be as hard this time. She also said she'd give us her address as soon as she knows it. I still can't believe she's in the Navy! The kids have a wonderful role model to look up to. She's respectful and a great big sister. I'm glad we all got the opportunity to go out there and see. God Bless our Marisa!

Miles Driven 2,945