A real letter!

Well, earlier this week we received a postage due notice from the post office. They didn't list who the object was from, so we had no clue. Today, out of curiosity, we went to the post office to see what it was that was going to cost us $.95. To our delight, it was a heavy letter from Bradley. He had managed to stuff a large booklet inside a small envelope and that's why it was too heavy for one first-class stamp. It was from the Navy Credit Union-he wanted us to read it and tell him what we think. His timing was eerie because i had written a letter to him this morning and had planned to mail it to him at the post office. Brad said to wait just in case the postage due was from Bradley...and it was :) So we added some stuff to the letter and got it off to him. It was so great to hear from him. We have been waiting for something of substance and here it was. Poor kid is exhausted. Said they work them hard from the time they get up til they go to bed. No free time at all except on Sundays and then it's only 4 hours. They either have to polish their boots, write letters, or go to church. It sounds like he hasn't been to church yet, which is disappointing, but he has to make his own decisions now. He said he has made some friends, but you can't count on any of them yet. There is some in-fighting in their division but Bradley says he thinks they kind of set the guys up to do that. Guess they break them all down before they build them back up and this is a side-effect. He says he just keeps to himself (big surprise!) and does what he has to do. He said he's not miserable, just really, really tired. I guess that's good, but I can't help but feel bad for him. He said that food's not bad, so that's something! :) Thousands of boys survive bootcamp, including my younger brother, so I know Bradley will too.

We also received his graduation information on Friday. He graduates bootcamp on Friday July 31st. He only had us listed as attending, so I'm wondering if they limited it to 4 people? We'll have to leave Nathan at home even though I know he misses Bradley and wants to see him. But that's a long time for him to sit still, so he will have to skip it. I wrote and asked him if more people could come so we'll have to wait and see. The Navy letter also said that most recruits will go straight from boot camp to training with no break. We were really hoping Bradley would have a day or 2 at home after bootcamp (or longer) but I guess he won't. Training is 8 more weeks, so he will be at Great Lakes until the end of September at least. After that, who knows.

At least we know he's basically ok, adjusting to his new schedule and life, and misses us. That was a nice bonus to hear :) We sent him stamps today so hopefully he'll continue to write and can respond if anyone else writes.

We'll keep you posted!