A couple weeks after Lee’s high school graduation—a drive-through ceremony in a parking lot, thanks to COVID—he told Kassie he’d made his decision. He was joining the Marines.
She’d known it was coming. He’d been talking to a recruiter since junior year. But knowing didn’t make it easier.
Lee shipped out to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in fourteen days.
The house felt different with Lee’s departure looming. School had just ended for summer, which meant the kids were home all day, orbiting around Lee like planets around the sun. Aaron became moody and picked fights over nothing. Marie became clingy, following Lee from room to room. Emma, oblivious at five years old, kept asking when Lee was leaving for his “long sleepover.”
“It’s not a sleepover, dummy,” Aaron snapped one aftern
