COLLEGE PARK, Md. — A West Virgina University ROTC graduate says he’s grateful his mother was able to witness his commissioning before taking her last breath at a Maryland hospital.
Senior Army ROTC Cadet Christian Arevalo, of Rockville, Md., was due to be commissioned in Morgantown on May 11, but instead was commissioned at his mother’s bedside two days before she died on Mother’s Day.
“She was there, and she was able to see me, but her reaction was a little delayed. I have video where everyone started clapping and she clapped like 30 seconds after everyone,” he said. “She was there, she was able to pin me and she was happy.”
Arevalo, 23, told MetroNews his mother’s breast cancer diagnosis had taken a grave turn and that he was left with no choice but to return to his home state to be with her.
“I decided that I was going to drive back home,” he said. “I was telling my two sisters to constantly keep me updated to make sure she’s okay.”
Arevalo served in the West Virginia Army National Guard for the past four years while going to school in Morgantown. He was on track to be commissioned as second lieutenant with 18 other classmates, but he said rehearsals for the ceremony in Morgantown felt “off” knowing his mother couldn’t be there.
“Everyone is super excited, they’re taking their pictures and I just felt like I did not want to be there. My mood was down knowing that my mom was in the hospital, but I was like okay, I’m just going to power it through. I’ll be fine,” he said.
Arevalo said he notified LTC David Sherck, professor of Military Science, of his intentions to skip his commission to be with his sick mother.
“I texted LTC Sherck and I was like, ‘hey, sir, just emotionally and mentally, I don’t think I can get through this commissioning knowing that my mother can’t be here,” he said.
The day after the ceremony, Sherck decided to drive to College Park, Md. to commission Arevalo in front of his mother, Rose Gonzalez, in her ICU room at Doctor’s Community Hospital.
The ceremony ended as Arevalo bent over and gently kissed his mother on the forehead.
Arevalo said he leaned on his mother a lot during his time in ROTC and said that the commissioning was special for the both of them.
“She loved that I was able to commission as an Army officer and she knew how hard I worked for that. There were days that I was so stressed out and I would call her crying, or I would tell her everything I’m stressed out about,” he said.
Arevalo and his two sisters don’t have a lot of assets and are struggling to pull together an appropriate funeral for their mom. The family has created a GoFundMe page to help pay for those expenses.
A funeral for Arevalo’s mother is set for 12 p.m. Tuesday.
Arevalo said, in the meantime, he plans on looking for work or an internship until he starts training for his military job in Jan. 2024.