I made this blog and Jackson's Yellow Ribbon private, not because I don't want people to read... but because I want to ensure my soldier's safety.
The Future Soldier's Family Office reached out to me and I have been reading through some materials they sent. Very informative. One of the items discussed posting dates or travel arrangements online. I would know better than to outline specific routes our family or specifically Matt would take (especially during deployments), but I did not think about the dangers of posting BCT dates and locations. The example was given of a soldier who posted his BCT date and location on a public forum. His current location was known so his travel plans were easy to figure out. He never made it to BCT. Do I know if that is actually a true story? No. Am I willing to take that risk? More adamant no.
My blog Quod Potest Eveniat is written with the purpose of being read by other Army families for encouragement, answers, or just to know that someone else has been there/is there right along side them. We are just beginning this journey and I plan to chronicle our steps along the way, our feelings and frustrations and joys, and helpful hints I learn (from getting started with the phonetic alphabet and ranking system to acronyms and shortcuts we may figure out). That blog will remain public so it can be searchable. I just hope I remember to keep the details out of my writing. I went through and removed most of the dates etc. I will most likely do follow up posts after the fact about Matt's locations for BCT and OCS so that I can give our impression of those posts.
Since this is private and I know who all the readers are:
We will have a nice Labor Day Weekend together. Matt will then leave on September 4. The Army will transport him to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. He will begin Basic Combat Training there on September 5. His graduation will be in mid-November. Jackson and I will attend that graduation. Already we are so excited to see our soldier in uniform! Officer Candidate School will be at Fort Benning in Georgia and will begin November 19.
Through both of these trainings Jackson and I will be living with my parents in Michigan. We plan to move up to Michigan the last week of September (right in time for my friend, Lauren's wedding and Art Prize).
Matt and I have begun to go through our belongings. We are compiling a list of things to try to sell. Whatever doesn't sell will go to Goodwill. This include a lot of our furniture. We will pack up the rest and we're hiring movers to load a truck and transport it to Michigan. Most of our items will be in a climate controlled storage unit in Michigan. Jackson and I will try to keep our personal items to take to Grammy and Papa's to a minimum... but it is proving hard!
This will be an interesting two weeks. The following two weeks will be long and strenuous, I am sure. Prayers are very much coveted and appreciated during this transition time. We thought we had five more months to prepare to move and be apart. Now it has been thrust at us and we are embracing it.
...but we sure will miss our husband/Daddy!
