At the airport there have been many new graduates of basic training coming to Fort Stewart. 99% of them don't look to be old enough to� be shaving yet..but they are old enough to go into combat.�
Last week at 4:45 my husband calls and tells me a severe storm is on it's way and I should think of leaving my USO booth a bit earlier than usual. I decide to take his advice because I'm terrified of storms and don't want to be driving home in bad weather. So I begin taking the� stuff off the counter�and putting it up in the back room. I come out of the back room and there before me is a young man in an Army uniform. He has been waiting in the reception room for the shuttle to Fort Stewart. �I smile at him and ask him if there's something I can do for him? He looks down at his boots and says, " Well, mam..see..I just got out of AIT and Fort Stewart is going to be �my first duty station. And well..I wanted to talk to my mama, but her cell phone is off and I don't have any other way of contacting her."� "Ok," I say and�� I wait to see what he's going to say next..then he breaks my heart..�"You see mam..well...I'm really scared and lonely �and I just really wanted to talk to my mama. So, I was wondering ..if it's not too much trouble..if maybe I can talk to you?" I'm at a loss for words.."Me? You want to talk to me?" I had to ask him. He says, " Yes mam if it's ok..I know you're probably busy..but I'm really nervous. "� I just look at him and say," Listen..you've done the hard part..you finished basic..you're done with AIT..it's all gravy from here."� I tell him about some of the other guys that I've seen come in that day and how nice and supportive the community around Fort Stewart is. A good bit of time passes and he seems much more relaxed. In the meantime the storm is raging outside. If I had left early I would have made it home before�the storm..but I would have missed something so much more important..I would have missed getting to know this sweet young soldier. Someone who just needed an ear to listen and a few kind words of reassurance. I was so glad to have been there for him. As a mom, I can only hope that somewhere down the road if my son or daughter need the same thing, they will find it even if it is a stranger who helps them. In the end, I wound up staying an extra hour and a half�with him until the shuttle came. He was standing talking to me about his brother when the driver walked in. I told him that was his shuttle and he went to get his bags. He came out of the room with both arms loaded with�all his bags. As he passed me he turned his head my way and said thank you. I told him he was welcome and watched him load up in the van that would take him to his new home. I walked back to my counter and just stood for a good while and just thought about what had just happened. I had just made a difference in a persons life. It was so small and yet so huge all at the same time. Wow....just...wow.......�
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