I'll be honest-this was a hard post to start. How do you put into words the feelings of seeing my baby sister graduate from the United States Military Academy and get promoted to a Lieutenant in the Army? Or seeing the formality of all of the events that we went to and only seeing a glimpse of what these kids have gone through the past 4 years at the Academy? It's pretty surreal to see my sister come full circle, from tearing her ACL in high school, which delayed her starting a year at USMA and gaining a year of experience at the USMA prep school, to finally graduating on a glorious, sunshine filled day, with our closest family right there with her!!
We spent Friday morning at her Graduation Parade, where the entire corps marches out and then the "Firsties" (aka Seniors) separated themselves from the rest of the school since they are moving on. It was such a beautiful day! And Westpoint truly is a beautiful place, all secluded and such.
All of the driving back and forth, the chilly mornings we had waiting, the walking from the parking lots and sore butts we all had from sitting so long were so worth it!
Friday night, my parents, husband (!), and sister went back to West Point for the Graduate Banquet. Their mess hall looks like a castle inside the big wooden doors. High vaulted ceilings, stone walls, and stained glass windows; it's just beautiful. We ate a nice dinner and then heard a few speeches from her class president and US Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno. It was such a nice change from the last time that I was up there-about 50 degrees difference that is! I will take cool 60 degree weather over below freezing any day! The house that my family rented for the week was so cool and the owner's put some small touches in to make our stay more welcome. It's so different with how people live up there. It doesn't take long to get outside of the city (West Point is about an hour north of NYC), and they don't have any neighborhoods with houses side to side or a Walmart around the corner like I'm used to down here in Texas. Instead, all of the houses are spread out and you're basically on the side of a mountain. The house we stayed at was close to a school, and there was a pool and a campfire not far from the driveway and it reminded me of summer camp. Driving up and down the mountains made my ears pop, along with a wee bit of car sickness since I wasn't driving.
Graduation Day was filled with an early, chilly start, followed by another glorious sun-filled day! The actual graduation wasn't bad once things got started (and we got breakfast!), and General Martin E. Dempsey's speech was funny, cute, shorter than expected, and covered audiences of all ages (quoting Frank Sinatra and Bruno Mars). The school song that they sang together gave me chills. The band sounded great. And the anticipation of the hat toss was nerve wracking (had to get that perfectly timed pic!). It came and went, and I about burst with pride. Check this out for some nice info on the graduation and what all is expected of Graduation Day (and no, that is not my sister in the 3rd picture, but it sure does look like her [I even had to ask Mallory if it WAS her lol!]). Afterwards we had a lunch tailgate brought in over by her soccer fields, which was followed by her official commissioning, in which my sister took the Oath again and my parents and I got to pin on her new Second Lieutenant bars on her uniform. This signified that she was no longer a Cadet of the Academy, but a full fledged (and promoted!) Lieutenant of the United States Army. My grandfather then gave her her first salute as an Officer, and that was that, except for the 20 push ups that he still owes her now that she out-ranks him! The burnt nose and chest I got from being outside all day was well worth it! Afterwards, we took ourselves back to the house and grilled out, got a massive game of UNO in, and just celebrated all night. It's really rewarding that both sides of my family can come together as one and having them all there together was awesome! It was one of those moments that you didn't want to end, but then seems to fly by extra fast and before you know it, we were there and back home already.
Mallory,
I am so proud of you and everything that you've gone through these past 5 years. I can't believe that you went from a little baby Cadet to a full fledged Lieutenant. I can't fully express how excited I am for you and what it did for me to see you march into Michie Stadium in sync with your whole class, or when you walked up that stage for your diploma after they called your name, or how it felt to see you and your class throw your hats up in the air in celebration at the end! It was a great moment for an outsider like me to witness, so I only hope that you can remember how you felt in the days leading up to this moment and how it felt to be right there in the middle of it. I love you so much!
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