Thursday, September 3

Photos: A mix of mine and our daughter Deb’s

By the time we got to the bleachers for the ceremony many seats were taken, so we each found seats where we could. There was no way all eleven could sit in the same area.

God Thing #4: Jere and Kristen knew only one of the graduate’s parents. They were from Lancaster (near us) and were a great encouragement to Jere and Kristen during the months that Jesse was in boot camp, because this was their second son in the Marines. When Jere and Kristen sat down, both couples were surprised to be sitting next to each other – and there were thousands of people. The couple you see in front of Jere and Kristen are the Marine’s grandparents. The couple Jere and Kristen knew are hidden between the grandparents and the young boy on the other end. (As I look at the picture, it appears like the mother is the only one there at the moment. I apparently took this picture during the time the father was away for a few minutes.)

Watching 474 graduating Marines marching onto the very large field.

I always had a difficult time finding Jesse, even when Jere pointed him out to me. He is in the back of the second row on the left.

You can see him better in this picture – 4th man in the back of middle row.

The ceremony was not very long, maybe 20-30 minutes, so he and the others were soon at liberty to find and hug us. Imagine 474 Marines trying to find their family. We just followed Jere and Kristen and soon heard a very loud noise from Jere and Jesse and knew they found each other. His sister Jana had trouble holding back tears.

Jana wiping tears.

Jesse with his sister Jana. Her husband Austin was not able to get off work for this event.

Jana called Roy and the others to let them know where we were.

Jere, Jesse, and Kristen. Notice those smiles.

Getting a loving hug from his big brother Josh.

With his brother Ian and his wife Nicole.

A hug from Uncle Roy

Uncle Roy, Jesse, and Aunt Deb

Aunt Deb

Hugging and talking to Grandpa

With us

Walking to the car. Josh’s friend Kellie is to Jesse’s right. I didn’t get a posed picture of her.

At our van with his mom.

In the van traveling with us as we headed to a store for some things he needed to purchase, then to our motel where we visited and had lunch.

I will tell you about our time together in my next post.