When we arrived at MEPS, Kyle was required to check-in at the DOD desk at the Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel between 5pm-730pm. I was really impressed with the accommodations, I think I stayed at a Hilton in Staten Island, but this was really swanky and flooded with business men and women carrying briefcases dressed to the nines in designer suits, bags, and shoes... trust me, I know. I checked into my room, on the 14th floor, and asked the concierge if he knew anything about the MEPS people. He said he was friends with Dave, the guy who checks them in, and directed me to him to answer any of my questions. Little did I know, I was being sent straight to "awkward wife zone". I found Dave on the second floor but by the time I found Dave, Dave had found me and mistook me as a recruit trying to check in. I tried to explain to him (in a room full of 18-20something year old guys) that I wasn't checking in I was already in the service but I wanted to know if my husband could stay with me in my room. Flustered, Dave explained to me that my recruiter should have told me DOD would have provided accommodations and that I probably wouldn't get refunded... I had to explain to him again that I was already in the service, I was just trying to bend the rules a little. He informed me that once recruits check in they are required to be in their rooms by 1030PM no exceptions. Long story short - Kyle stayed with me on his last night 'home'.
Kyle met up with me almost immediately after the awkward encounter with Dave, and informed me that I was like an embarrassing mom (I could actually SENSE that I was being like an embarrassing mom). He wanted to go meet his roommate and meet some of the other people who were going to be with him tomorrow so I decided I was going to do my workout since I haven't skipped a day in a few weeks I wasn't going to let myself just because I was out of town. Kyle actually brought our DVD player from our house and hooked it up in my room for me so I could (which is one of the things I love most about him - always goes out of his way to make sure I'm happy!). Kyle's 'roommate' for the night was a very interesting character also named Kyle. He told us he was madly in love with Rachel Ray, enjoyed creative writing (even had a degree for it), has Aspergers, weighed 280lbs at the age of 11, has a girlfriend who is bisexual, never leaves his house, is 24 years old, drives a 4runner, and is allowed to have his best friend over on Friday nights. He was trying to get into the Coast Guard also but was only in the beginning stages and didn't score enough points on his ASVAB the day prior so had to call his dad to come pick him up (I didn't bother asking why he didn't drive himself...). We had dinner with Kyle at O'Connor's pub in the lobby of the hotel. They got meal vouchers from the DOD and I ate off the civilian menu.
When we finished eating Kyle and I told awkward Kyle we were going to go for a walk and he got the hint and told us he was going to go back to their room to watch some cooking shows. We took a long walk to the World Trade Center building and along the waterfront, we ran into Whitey Bulger and some of his cronies, admired the smell of saltwater (which Kyle informed me reminds him of Hooters - which if he had never brought me to - I might find really disgusting, but since I know it's on the water, I get it) and then we made our way back to the hotel. He had a mandatory meeting at 830 so I figured I could probably sneak down to the bar and have a glass of wine or two to loosen up a bit - by the time I was leaving my room I ran into him in the hallway, I think the meeting was only four minutes long, so we decided to go find me a bottle of wine instead since he figured it would probably cost just as much for me to sit and have two glasses, and he probably couldn't sit with me at the bar.
I feel like we walked forever, I literally have a blister on the bottom of my foot and I was wearing UGGs (WTF). I blame it mostly on Kyle's mile long legs and the fact I have to take 4 steps for every one of his strides - I break a sweat every time we go for a leisurely walk. I felt like we were walking straight into the neighborhood for the new show Southie Rules, and I was grateful to have a mammoth of a husband (and even more grateful once I got my bottle of wine because I felt like I was armed). We ended up cutting our walk down by taking some really dark sketchy backroads and winding up WAY behind the convention center, where they must be staging a pop-up car sale because there were a bunch of rows of different makes of cars with no plates.
(kyle #hashtagged the $#!T out of this pic - a little game we play on Instagram to see who can get the most likes for the most ridiculous #hashtags because we think #hashtagging is #obnoxious)
When we got back to the hotel almost immediately after my first glass of wine I turned into an emotional train-wreck. It only lasted a little while though because I think since I've been through this experience on the other side of the spectrum, I know how he wouldn't want me to act. We watched some Duck Dynasty and I dozed off pretty quickly. I woke up around 2am and he was still up, and had to be up at attem at 4 - to embark on pretty much the longest day of his life.
Kyle left the hotel around 430 and told me to walk over to the MEPS building by 830. I got there by 815 and he didn't swear in until about 1030. We (the families of the shippers) were told by the liaisons to pretty much plan on saying your last goodbyes by 1145. I left around 1130 because I didn't want to deal with the mob of crying parents and Kyle was pretty much ready to go by then anyway.
I spent the next hour driving massive circles around Boston, pretty much the most poorly laid out city I've ever been to. I literally was SCREAMING at the top of my lungs in my Chevy Sonic and had the worst case of road rage I've ever had. I actually drove down a road that was blocked off for some effing road race at one point and then three people followed behind me so I couldn't back out. I was so frustrated. Once I knew I was on the road and didn't need to pay attention to signs anymore, I called my mom for some moral support, and did about 90mph back to the cape so I could go to the mall and get some good retail therapy in before trying to catch the 310 boat back to Nantucket. By the time I landed in Nantucket, Kyle had landed in Cleveland (thanks to lowest price flights paid for by the government). We stayed in touch until about 8pm when he called to tell me they were probably getting on the bus soon and he was going to secure his phone in his bag. I choked back some tears and gave him some last minute advice, "it's artificial stress, I did it - you can do it, the company commanders are normal Coasties like nacho and Jeff, they're not actually mean it's just their job, hang in there... it's just 8 weeks". I can't wait for my 10lbs of gummy bears to get here tomorrow.
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