This is a poem My daughter sent home to me just before graduation from boot camp at Parris Island, SC. Written by Jessica Lee Bianco, 1998:
“Marine Mom”
Three long moths it had been
Since you’ve seen your oldest one
You could not but imagine
All she’d been through and done
You waited anxiously in the dark
On a clear Parris Island night
After meeting with her DI’s
Who assured you she was alright
Then you heard the footsteps
Of a hundred or so proud women
Their cadence growing stronger
And your waiting soon to end
Out of the dark they marched
So proud, so strong, so lean
Pressed and polished and shining
In the uniform of a Marine
Row after row, each looking like the other
But every special one
Reunited with their Mother
Where was your little girl
Who left three months ago
Who is this grown up woman
I now must come to know?
She looked you in the eye
With a confidence so keen
You recognized your precious one
A United States Marine
Your heart filled with pride
Your eyes brimmed with tears
You know you had not lost her
But must share her for four years
To wear the title of Marine
They say is like no other
But how can one be prouder
Than a US Marine’s Mother?
(I love you mom and dad! I’m coming home a United States Marine!!)