Eddie's Navy boot camp graduation
Donation protected
Okay so I'm usually the well spoken, and articulate one that people come to for help with letters/essays/term papers/etc., but it isn't so easy when your own heart & feelings are involved, but I will try my best.
As most of you know, my first born (Eddie) is now in basic training for the United States Navy. I thought there would never be such a proud moment as when he graduated high school, but I think I jumped the gun.
Service to our country has been a family tradition for as far back as I can remember. My father had a rough life as a result of his mother being hospitalized with tuberculosis she picked up in WW2 as a nurse, in a time when men typically didn't raise the children. My grandfather tried his best, but he gifted my dad with the desire to read as much as he possibly could before he died at the age of 36 from pneumonia.
My father graduated high school at the age of 16, and was enlisted in the US Navy nuclear engineer program at the age of 17. He served a few tours in Vietnam on the biggest aircraft carrier (Enterprise CVN-65), and eventually transferred to the USAF when he graduated from UNC chapel hill school of math & science with a major in physics & a minor in German. He retired a USAF Major & went on to be a successful senior engineer for AT&T now known as Lucent technologies.
Then my mother fell ill with Alzheimer's & my father retired to take care of her. Around that same time, I gave birth to their first grandchild (Eddie) who was essentially the only light in any of our lives during the 5 years from my mom's diagnosis, to the day she lost her fight.
My father neglected his body for many years taking care of his family. He quit smoking not because of the emphysema he picked up in Vietnam, but because of my brother's asthma diagnosis. As is customary, you pick up other habits when you drop others. I remember nights before & after mom died that my dad would drink gallon jugs of port wine until he was crying on the bathroom floor. A man that never showed much emotion at all, besides anger crying like a baby.
He remarried 6 months later & his new wife didn't approve of us (his children & grandchildren) for reasons I do not wish to discuss as the woman is not worth my breath.
My father's only connection to my mom was us & my son who she loved more than life itself until the day she died. But he was not allowed to speak with us after a few years of spats between his wife & us (his children). Our father was cut out of our lives for 11 years & only contacted us through emails, an occasional phone call & he made sure that he sent Christmas gifts & cards each year, even though he had to sneak the money for them out of hidden accounts all but one time when he was "allowed" to buy my son an Xbox 360, but only because his was stolen.
My father died April 19, 2014 in his sleep, and we weren't even informed about it until three days later. His ashes were sent away for a proper sailors funeral at sea aboard a US Navy guided missile destroyer, headed to the Mediterranean Sea, which is where he wanted his ashes to be spread.
We were not invited to this ceremony, and (in fact) were discouraged from going.
Since then, I have completely removed my stepmother and her negativity from my life, and though she hurt my child more than she hurt me, he stood up & did the best thing he could do to silently prove her wrong in every aspect imaginary, by graduating high school, and immediately enlisting in the US Navy. After she sent me an email on the anniversary of my father's death FROM HIS EMAIL ADDRESS, stating that she owes us nothing, and that the box of my father's medals & accolades (even his Boy Scouts patches & boat he played with as a child) that he promised my son was hers, my child decided to set out to earn his own medals, and accolades!
This is why attending his graduation from basic training means so much to me. I know my daddy will be there in spirit & there's nothing anyone can do to prevent him from being in attendance.
As many of you know, I have been deemed federally disabled since 2007 after I was assaulted in 2005 & the physical as well as emotional damage from my assault, turned into chronic injury/illnesses. I'm college educated, and am working towards my paralegal certification right now, so that I can try to get off of SSI, but until I do, all the work I CAN do is freelance, volunteer & pro bono work when there is a need for my services (which hasn't been very often lately).
So I'm asking for help getting myself & my 7 year old daughter to my son's graduation on March 4, 2016.
The number I put for what I would like to earn is a rough estimate. I have priced airlines, hotels, and in city travel expenses, but because of the fact that I cannot book until the money is available to do so (and rates go up with short notice) I have rounded up.
Do I expect to earn this much money from donations in a months time? No, but they say "ask not want not" so I figured I'd try. If I don't earn anything at all, I will still do whatever I can to get to my child's graduation. If I earn very little & can't make it, I will send him a care package, and some new shoes/clothes for when he can take leave from A school.
The requested monies are broken down as follows:
Airfare $722.40 (two people Delta RDU to MKE)
Days Inn $228.70 (king bed for myself & my daughter 2 nights @ $99 ea. + tax, double is $20 more)
Shuttle to and from graduation ceremony $6 per person.
Über $59-79 depending on traffic (per trip from airport to hotel & back to airport).
= $1,133.10
Asking for $1,500 to cover any price hikes that may occur before I can book.
Thank you all, and regardless if you can contribute or not, any encouragement is appreciated while Eddie is in BT.
Letters can be sent to him, but he cannot call anyone but me & he will not be able to log into Facebook to see anything we post until he's in A school, but I'm sure he will be more than happy to see the support when he does.
His address is as follows. Only letters (not even sure about cards if anyone knows, you can comment on this post).
SR, Ortega, Eddie, O.
Ship 06 Div 110
3510 Illinois street
Great Lakes, Il 60088-3119
Thanks again everyone -Dawn
#HOOYAH ⚓️
As most of you know, my first born (Eddie) is now in basic training for the United States Navy. I thought there would never be such a proud moment as when he graduated high school, but I think I jumped the gun.
Service to our country has been a family tradition for as far back as I can remember. My father had a rough life as a result of his mother being hospitalized with tuberculosis she picked up in WW2 as a nurse, in a time when men typically didn't raise the children. My grandfather tried his best, but he gifted my dad with the desire to read as much as he possibly could before he died at the age of 36 from pneumonia.
My father graduated high school at the age of 16, and was enlisted in the US Navy nuclear engineer program at the age of 17. He served a few tours in Vietnam on the biggest aircraft carrier (Enterprise CVN-65), and eventually transferred to the USAF when he graduated from UNC chapel hill school of math & science with a major in physics & a minor in German. He retired a USAF Major & went on to be a successful senior engineer for AT&T now known as Lucent technologies.
Then my mother fell ill with Alzheimer's & my father retired to take care of her. Around that same time, I gave birth to their first grandchild (Eddie) who was essentially the only light in any of our lives during the 5 years from my mom's diagnosis, to the day she lost her fight.
My father neglected his body for many years taking care of his family. He quit smoking not because of the emphysema he picked up in Vietnam, but because of my brother's asthma diagnosis. As is customary, you pick up other habits when you drop others. I remember nights before & after mom died that my dad would drink gallon jugs of port wine until he was crying on the bathroom floor. A man that never showed much emotion at all, besides anger crying like a baby.
He remarried 6 months later & his new wife didn't approve of us (his children & grandchildren) for reasons I do not wish to discuss as the woman is not worth my breath.
My father's only connection to my mom was us & my son who she loved more than life itself until the day she died. But he was not allowed to speak with us after a few years of spats between his wife & us (his children). Our father was cut out of our lives for 11 years & only contacted us through emails, an occasional phone call & he made sure that he sent Christmas gifts & cards each year, even though he had to sneak the money for them out of hidden accounts all but one time when he was "allowed" to buy my son an Xbox 360, but only because his was stolen.
My father died April 19, 2014 in his sleep, and we weren't even informed about it until three days later. His ashes were sent away for a proper sailors funeral at sea aboard a US Navy guided missile destroyer, headed to the Mediterranean Sea, which is where he wanted his ashes to be spread.
We were not invited to this ceremony, and (in fact) were discouraged from going.
Since then, I have completely removed my stepmother and her negativity from my life, and though she hurt my child more than she hurt me, he stood up & did the best thing he could do to silently prove her wrong in every aspect imaginary, by graduating high school, and immediately enlisting in the US Navy. After she sent me an email on the anniversary of my father's death FROM HIS EMAIL ADDRESS, stating that she owes us nothing, and that the box of my father's medals & accolades (even his Boy Scouts patches & boat he played with as a child) that he promised my son was hers, my child decided to set out to earn his own medals, and accolades!
This is why attending his graduation from basic training means so much to me. I know my daddy will be there in spirit & there's nothing anyone can do to prevent him from being in attendance.
As many of you know, I have been deemed federally disabled since 2007 after I was assaulted in 2005 & the physical as well as emotional damage from my assault, turned into chronic injury/illnesses. I'm college educated, and am working towards my paralegal certification right now, so that I can try to get off of SSI, but until I do, all the work I CAN do is freelance, volunteer & pro bono work when there is a need for my services (which hasn't been very often lately).
So I'm asking for help getting myself & my 7 year old daughter to my son's graduation on March 4, 2016.
The number I put for what I would like to earn is a rough estimate. I have priced airlines, hotels, and in city travel expenses, but because of the fact that I cannot book until the money is available to do so (and rates go up with short notice) I have rounded up.
Do I expect to earn this much money from donations in a months time? No, but they say "ask not want not" so I figured I'd try. If I don't earn anything at all, I will still do whatever I can to get to my child's graduation. If I earn very little & can't make it, I will send him a care package, and some new shoes/clothes for when he can take leave from A school.
The requested monies are broken down as follows:
Airfare $722.40 (two people Delta RDU to MKE)
Days Inn $228.70 (king bed for myself & my daughter 2 nights @ $99 ea. + tax, double is $20 more)
Shuttle to and from graduation ceremony $6 per person.
Über $59-79 depending on traffic (per trip from airport to hotel & back to airport).
= $1,133.10
Asking for $1,500 to cover any price hikes that may occur before I can book.
Thank you all, and regardless if you can contribute or not, any encouragement is appreciated while Eddie is in BT.
Letters can be sent to him, but he cannot call anyone but me & he will not be able to log into Facebook to see anything we post until he's in A school, but I'm sure he will be more than happy to see the support when he does.
His address is as follows. Only letters (not even sure about cards if anyone knows, you can comment on this post).
SR, Ortega, Eddie, O.
Ship 06 Div 110
3510 Illinois street
Great Lakes, Il 60088-3119
Thanks again everyone -Dawn
#HOOYAH ⚓️
Organizer
Dawn Castro
Organizer
Asheboro, NC