A somber introduction to #YourCadetIsMyCadet

I’ve written recently about how most of your friends and family really don’t understand what it means to have a child at one of our military academies. And while many will talk about how close they are with the parents of their child’s classmates, I am confident they will not understand our bond.

That’s not to say we are better or our children our better, again, it’s just different. When someone tells you their son or daughter is a graduate or a cadet or has recently been accepted, you immediately know a whole lot about them. I openly admit to being carried through the brutal six weeks of my son’s Plebe Summer at the United States Naval Academy by experienced parents on Facebook. These were people who I had never met and haven’t met to this day. One, in particular, would message me, unprompted, to check on me and read through my hand-wringing.

That’s something I’ve tried to pay forward. And it helped me understand when parents would say #YourMidIsMyMid and why I understand the USAFA equivalent, #YourCadetIsMyCadet. That mindset leads to cadets getting last-minute rides to the airport or delivery of a must-have item. It’s how I ended up sending a Recognition box to an unrelated Doolie as well as my daughter. When you read about a cadet’s success, you join in the celebration. When you read about a cadet’s struggles, you join in the prayer chain.

But when you hear about something like some recent news, you stop in your tracks. Here’s the Facebook post that stopped me (and many others, I’m sure): “Please pray for one of our cadets who had a skateboarding accident, suffered brain injuries, and now is in a coma.”

Years as a journalist taught me to take few things at face value and my time at USNA taught me that the first information you get is not always the most accurate information. I hoped that was the case here. Then someone shared a post from the cadet’s mother confirming the tragic news and that they would begin a process of removing him from life support to see if his body would respond. That process could take up to five days.

Any situation where a young person’s life hangs in the balance, it’s tragic. When it’s the result of a fluke like a skateboard accident, it’s cruel. When you add the fact that this was an Air Force Academy cadet, someone who would soon be a leader of men and women, likely responsible for millions (if not billions) of dollars of complex equipment, and prepared to lay down their life for their country and their comrades, it becomes incomprehensible.

The worry never stops and no matter what you worry about, there’s always something you hadn’t considered that

Some of my favorite memories of my son’s time at USNA were #YourMidIsMyMid moments – bringing K-cups to a coffee-loving company-mate or taking a couple of them with us to dinner. And those are the type of #YourCadetIsMyCadet moments I hope to create during the last three years with my daughter. But this is the moment we have now and I would say it demands that we come together as a community of support and prayer, but that’s not necessary. Because once you become a military academy parent, that becomes second nature.

Our prayers are with this family and regardless of the outcome, they will always be a part of our family.

#NeverQuitNeverSettle

A prayer for God’s intercession & healing
(adapted from Crosswalk.com)

Lord Jesus, we come to you and thank you for the privilege of praying for others. We’ve been the recipient of others’ prayers so often that we understand how powerful intercessory prayer can be. We ask you first to cleanse our hearts and thank you that through your name, we can come boldly before you and pray with confidence, according to your will and know that you hear us. We come to you today as your child, longing to hear from you and asking for your divine healing for both this USAFA cadet and his family. There’s so much we don’t understand about life. But we do know that with one touch, one word, you can make them whole. Please begin your healing from the inside out. We don’t always know what your will is Lord, especially in times like now, when we desperately seek your face. We offer you no promises, no bargains, no deals to exchange for their health. We simply bow before you to tell you the desire of our heart. May your will be done and may we be comforted by your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord Jesus, we come to you and thank you for the privilege of praying for others. We’ve been the recipient of others’ prayers so often that we understand how powerful intercessory prayer can be. We ask you first to cleanse our hearts and thank you that through your name, we can come boldly before you and pray with confidence, according to your will and know that you hear us. We come to you today as your child, longing to hear from you and asking for your divine healing for both this USAFA cadet and his family. There’s so much we don’t understand about life. But we do know that with one touch, one word, you can make them whole. Please begin your healing from the inside out. We don’t always know what your will is Lord, especially in times like now, when we desperately seek your face. We offer you no promises, no bargains, no deals to exchange for their health. We simply bow before you to tell you the desire of our heart. May your will be done and may we be comforted by your Holy Spirit. Amen.