Merry Christmas to my homeschooled Godson!

Last year my homeschooled nephew/Godson made it home from basic training and AIT in time for Christmas. That's him on the right in the photo at the airport the night my sister and I picked him up at midnight. It was a great homecoming and my sister decorated the house, inside and out, and made all his favorite foods for Christmas dinner.

This year my nephew is stationed in California during the holidays. This is his first Christmas away from home...ever. We're going to miss him very much but we know he is doing what he had planned to do since the age of 10...live the military life and enjoying it.

We are very proud of him. He started public school and my sister had to battle for his education every step of the way with his teachers and the school administrators. Finally, three weeks into sixth grade my sister pulled him out of public school to homeschool him. My nephew eventually took the entrance assessment for the local community college at the age of 14, started his first class at age 15 and had almost 30 college credits by the time he was 18. He entered the U.S. Army Reserves without a high school diploma, without high school transcripts and without a GED. He has traveled to Germany with his unit and this is his second trip to California since joining a year ago. Eventually, he plans to finish his college degree and become an officer. In less than a year he went from Private E-1 to Specialist E-4.

We miss you, Will. God's speed.