Enlistment in the Royal Australian Airforce

     On the Third day of June 2014, my first born Jasper pledged allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, Her Heirs and successors! What a mouthful! 
He will loyally and faithfully serve Her Majesty as a member or the Royal Australian Air Force from that date on. I have never been a royalist by any means but to be honest this gives me goosebumps as a father. My little boy, my first born, born and raised in a foreign small country on the other side of the globe is now serving his new country. I get teary eyes thinking of it, for me this goes beyond being proud. I can't even start to describe the feeling ! I can still picture him lively 18 years ago, hanging onto a little tree, wiggling on his legs, trying to stand up, stand tall! I had big hopes for him since his birth. I knew he was going to make it, to me he was like water, water always finds its way, no matter what you put in the way. Water will find a way around it.
So here it is, D-Day. The day you know will come but never think its that close until the day. After months of traveling to Brisbane and Maroochydore for interviews and tests he finally got admitted.
So on the big day the wolf pack took him to the big city. 2am we all woke up, 2:30 we left for Brisbane, barely traffic at that time so we had a good run. Three men and a half in the car, I must say it was cozy and we had a good time. Tom was driving, the rest of us were sleeping on and off. There was moments of absolute silence and moments of chatter and laughter. It was a time of mixed emotions for me, knowing that it will be a long time before we will be all together again. On the positive side I'm extremely happy I made it to the end with my boys, I didn't miss any of the important stages in their lives and I don't intend to in the future either.
We drop Jasper of at 410 Ann Street in Brisbane CBD. We find a free parking spot at the local Woolworths right behind the building Jasper is in. We use the time before the ceremony to have some breakfast. 9am we go up to level 11. At 9:30 is the official ceremony where Jasper will be sworn in as an Airman for the Royal Australian Air Force.
After the emotional ceremony for me we go into the city to have a last drink together. We all realize this is life changing for each and one of us. This is the moment of goodbye, for a while at least. I know in years to come we, the boys and me, will all be together again in some way, but for now this is it. Jasper, from the bottom of my heart I wish you all the very best in your new life. I'm very proud of what you have become and achieved so far, so I have no doubts about your future:-)))

 The Bro's, true brothers...love them to bits:-)))

 The boys saying goodbye to each other in their own way...