My Very First Love

Jerod is the first love of my life. He was such a great kid most of the time, but always liked to keep me on my toes. Who would have thought that a child who could never stand to get his hands dirty would end up where he is now.

Jerod is my dare devil. He played baseball most all of his life. At 12 years old, he was the 2nd fastest pitcher in Tennessee for his age. He pitched the winning pitch that helped win the State Tournament, and pitched the winning pitch of the only game we won in the Regional competition. That may not seem like a lot to most people, but that one single game we won in Regionals was against Florida. Florida almost had an undefeated season and an undefeated Regional Tournament until they met up against Jerod. Florida went on to win the Little League World Series, but they will have the ever lasting reminder that Jerod Upchurch screwed up their undefeated season.

Jerod left baseball for his new found love. Jerod got his first quad (4 wheeler) at the age of 13. When it was bought, it was just for leisure riding. That changed very quickly as he leared that he could race. Jerod had to get special permission from the racing authorities to race in the adult class, and I had to assume all responsibilities if he got hurt. Ok, no problem. Jerod started racing against 25, 30, and some 40 year olds at the age of 13. It started out rocky at first, but as he got used to it he started pulling in numerous 1st place wins. Jerod went on to win his first Summer Championship and gained a lot of recognition from all the "older" guys. The next season, a lot of them "older" guys went to the seniors division because they did not want to race against him anymore! A few more championships under his belt, and his racing came to an end. His quad could not hold up to his brutality and Jerods last race of his career ended with him running himself over with his own quad. Mind you, he was not hurt BAD, but just bad enough to take a break. He never went back to racing again. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

In 2007 Jerod came to me and told me that he wanted to take a big step in his life. That I could get on board with him, or he would wait until he was 18 and take the step on his own. Jerod wanted to join the Marine Corps. Being a military brat myself most of all my life, I knew what the risks were. Jerod was dead set on joining all I could do is stand behind his decisions and sign the paper like he asked. He left for boot camp a mere 3 days after high school graduation. Watching that van pull away with my oldest child in it was one of the hardest days of my life. Jerod went through boot, and all of his schooling. His permanent duty station ended up being in Californial. It was a long way away from Tennessee but nothing a car or a plane couldn't handle. In October 2009, Jerod embarked on his first deployment. He was then Iraq bound. Deployment was not as hard as I imagined. The hardest part was the prep in my opinion. I was able to keep in contact with Jerod almost constantly. Through Skype, all things were possible. Then facebook and myspace updates. Mom stayed realitively sane. There were some tense moments, but nothing we couldn't handle. Pictures, phone calls, and sending packages were my only lifelines to my first born. One phone call that I will never forget is the one that would rip my heart to shreds, but make me even prouder of the man my son had become. Jerod was coming home to go into more training because he volunteered to go with another unit to Afghanistan the following April. Jerod made it back home in February 2010 and went almost immediately to Viper training for his upcoming deployment. Jerod came home on pre-deployment leave at the end of March and stayed through Easter. I will finish up with the story and the many changes that have come to be my "new" life in the next entry about Jerod and his new journey.