MARINE COMBAT TRAINING, Camp Geiger, NC

Hi, everyone. Ruby's mom here. Thought I'd let you know how she is doing since becoming a Marine.
The 17 days she was home FLEW past, but she was ready to get on with what she's all about now. There were some tough personal decisions she had to make concerning people she loves, but she made them with lots of guidance from the Lord and with maturity.
We all drove down to Camp Geiger, (part of Camp Lejeune at Jacksonville, NC)on Tuesday April 14th, and dropped her off once more. Although we were under the impression she could call during the week sometimes, we found out after a day or so that she would more than likely would not be able to call or write much, if any. She called the day after she went in, and told us MCT was more physically demanding than Boot Camp. She said she was sore every where, and that after 9 days of one type of training, there would be range and field work, so not to expect to get any news.
Two days later, on Thursday, Ruby's gramma, Beulah, went to sleep, and died on Saturday night. We had to call and let her commanding officer know, then wait for the call from her. That was tough. She was told on Sunday morning after some classes, and in a conversation with her that night, she told me she was so distraught over the news, she couldn't bear to call till the Sunday night. And only because the Lord had heard her prayers for comfort, both in her gramma's death, and the difficult decision she had to make not to come home. She went to church on Sunday night, and the sermon was, get this, about the death of loved ones, the eternal life afterwards, etc. She said she was so thankful the Lord answered her prayers in such a distinct way, because it gave her the strength to do what she needed to.
We understood, and supported her. The day she left, we told her that chances were she wouldn't see Beulah alive again, and needed to say goodbye. They had spent a good amount of time together while she was home, (thank God she lived next door).
About MCT: she said they train with the men, making it very demanding on the women of course, but that she had opportunities to fire and work with all sorts of weapons, which she loves. They get to eat whatever they want, and are given more time to do so, not nearly as restrictive as PI, but certainly structured.
When we heard from her last, (borrowed a superiors' phone out in the field at night) she told us she had not bathed in 10 days, (because she is out in the field, folks, not because she's gross) the men were REALLY getting on her nerves being excessive in their complaints against the women, and that there were 2 women who couldn't keep up and were giving all the girls a bad rap.
She also gave me a rundown on some of the gross and low class mess that you get exposed to in a concentrated micro-cosm of the world, and of the opportunity to witness to 4 girls at once. She's still our Ruby.
Pray for her abdomen, she wouldn't give me a straight answer about whether or not it's worse than the rest of her body...queen of evasion.
We will be going down to see her on Monday the 11th of May, when they hold a family day prior to graduation. Except she won't be at graduation because she will be on a 12 hour bus ride with all the aviation folks to Pensacola.
Thanks for checking in on Ruby.
We'll keep you posted on this blog as the months turn into 5 years.
God Bless.