A Dad and His Son

A Dad and His Son

Ten years ago a man named James fought in the military. While he was in the military he had gotten severely injured causing him to be discharged from the military leaving him disabled. When he was discharged they had sent him to physical therapy to try and help him regain movement in his leg and just to help him with any other things that he may need. After he had gone through everything a couple years later James and his wife Mary had a little boy which they named Rick. Years had gone by and Rick was finally eighteen years old and about to graduate from high school. Since Rick was eighteen and about to graduate he had decided he wanted to enlist into the military just like his dad did. Before he actually enlisted he wanted to talk to his dad first to see what he thought about it so Rick went to talk to his dad. As Rick was walking down the stairs to the living room where he dad was he began to get excited to tell his dad about enlisting. When he got to the living room he stood in front of his dad and said “can I join the military”. “ Absolutely not, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” said his dad. “Why not? I really want to join and help protect our country” Rick said. “ I understand that but I don’t want you getting hurt like I did as you can see it is difficult for me to move around due to being injured in the war. In fact I almost got killed many times” his dad said. After having that conversation with his dad it didn’t change the fact he wanted to be in the military but he just agreed with his dad anyways so there wasn’t any arguing.

That next morning Rick knew he was going to go and talk to the recruiters because he was going to enlist himself. When he got to school he went straight to the cafeteria to where the recruiters stood. The soldiers standing at the booth welcomed Rick and asked him “ what are you wanting to enlist in”. “ I want to enlist in the military like my dad was,” Rick said. Rick and the recruitment soldiers talked for a while about how everything worked and how he would need to get his parents to sign the form but Rick never brought up the fact that his dad wouldn’t let him join the military. When they were finished talking they handed him the form to actually enlist and told him to go home fill it out and to make sure to have your parents sign it and then you will bring it back to us but make sure it is before graduation so you are ready to go the day you graduate. After being told his parents had to sign it he was unsure how it was going to work out being his dad wasn’t on board with the idea at all. When the school day ended Rick decided he would just sign his dad’s name himself so that no one could tell him no so he did exactly that and signed his dad’s name on the form.

Rick woke up that morning super happy. As he walked downstairs his parents could tell he was in an awfully happy mood so his dad asked “ why are you so happy today”. “ No reason,” Rick said. As he finished his sentence he ran out the front door and headed to school. When he got to school he headed straight to the cafeteria just like the day before but today he was turning in his form to officially enlist in the military. As soon as he turned in the form the soldiers said “ Congratulations we are looking forward to seeing you after graduation”. “ Thank you so much I can’t wait,” Said Rick. Rick remained happy all day long because graduation was in two days and then he could finally do what he dreamed of, which is the military. He had felt bad for not telling his dad about it but he knew he wanted to go and he didn’t want anyone stopping him from doing it. The day of graduation came and Rick was packing up some of his things to take with him to boot camp which wasn’t a lot. As the day went on his graduation came. After it was over he went over to his mom and dad and told them he had enlisted himself into the military and he was leaving in a couple of hours. Their faces dropped and his mom began to cry and as far as his dad he was mad that his son lied to him but in the end he was happy for his son for doing what he has chosen to do. It was finally time for Rick to leave and they all said their goodbyes to each other. As soon as they said their goodbyes the soldier came and got Rick.

HIs parents hadn’t heard from Rick in months. They were beginning to worry that something had happened to him until they heard a knock on the door and it was Rick standing on the front porch in his uniform. He was a real soldier now. His parents were so happy he was safe that they gave him a huge hug. Rick went inside and began telling stories about being in the military and how he loved it. Rick said “ It can be scary at times but you create an amazing bond with so many people. I even made a friend from another country. He is a little boy. I was keeping him safe from all the danger going on”. “ I am so glad you are okay and have such a huge heart to protect that little boy,” his dad said. Rick stayed for two weeks and then it was time for him to leave again. They all said their goodbyes once again but it wouldn’t be their last time saying it.