Phone call

I got an unexpected 10-minute phone call from my son today. He sounded like himself, but admitted that he's very sore from all the workouts, and that he needs to improve his speed in the timed run. He said he thinks he's doing well in everything else.

Maybe he was a little down, but it was hard to tell. I wanted to offer some advice, but it's difficult because I haven't been through it myself. I wasn't in the military, so these are uncharted waters for me. This is my son, and I should be able to help, but he's already experiencing things I never experienced, so all I could do was try to encourage him and acknowledge that I'm sure it's difficult, but that I was sure everything will turn out okay if he gave it his best.

It's strange how the whole conversation made me feel ... sort of helpless. If my son was in his first year of college, I could have helped because I know what that feels like. If my son was starting a new job in the work-a-day world, I could have given advice because I've been there, done that. But the Navy ... man, it's so far outside my own experience that I'm feeling lost ... proud, but lost. My son's a grown man and he'll weather his own storms, just as all men eventually do no matter what path they choose. It just feels so odd to want to help, but know that you can't.