Two months ago, Alexa Hamilton-Decker graduated from Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School. Now the 18-year-old is in Navy boot camp.
Hamilton-Decker left Monday for Great Lakes, Ill., where she expects a lot of running and physical exercise for the next eight weeks.
?I?m ready for it,? said Hamilton-Decker, who recently completed the Tough Mudder event in Vermont, a 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces.
After boot camp, it?s eight weeks at ?A? School, where she will learn about her trade. Hamilton-Decker, who studied automotive collision technology at Assabet, will start out as an E-2 seaman apprentice and work as a ship mechanic.
Hamilton-Decker will be in Illinois until December and then will ?hopefully go on a ship for the rest of my life,? she said.
But the future wasn?t always looking so bright.
Hamilton-Decker used to live in Palm Bay, Fla., until she and her mother Lisa Decker moved to Massachusetts 10 years ago. Decker said she followed a man to the Northeast, and although that relationship didn?t work out, the move changed her daughter?s life.
It wasn?t the right scene for them in Palm Bay ? there were a lot of teen moms and Decker wonders now if her daughter would have become like them. The two settled in Marlborough about four years ago.
With help from Assabet, ?it?s just been a lot better,? Decker said.
It was tough, as Hamilton-Decker had no family up here originally.
?She made her own family,? her mother said.
Ray Devoe, who got to know Lisa Decker from working at the Prospector on Lincoln Street, has become a member of that family.?
?I just tried to talk to her as a father,? Devoe said. ?She took to me like a dad.?
Devoe and his wife Ruth hosted a going-away party for Hamilton-Decker last Friday at their Marlborough home. About 40 people attended.
Devoe said he liked seeing Hamilton-Decker with all of her friends. But he was deeply saddened when he just missed a chance to say one last goodbye in person on Sunday before she went off with a Navy representative.
?It was tough,? Devoe said as his voice broke. ?I just wanted to say goodbye. She?s like the daughter I never had.?
Thankfully, the two did get to speak by phone before she left. Devoe has faith that she?ll do well in the Navy.
?I?m very, very proud of her,? Devoe said. ?She?s come a long way.?
Devoe thanked his wife for being supportive of his constant support of Hamilton-Decker.
Ruth Devoe is confident in her.
?I?m sad, but I?m happy and proud,? she said. ?She?s a strong girl.?
Hamilton-Decker follows her father, who lives out of state, and her grandfather into the Navy.
?I?m going to carry the torch,? Hamilton-Decker said. ?It?s something I?ve wanted all my life.?
Hamilton-Decker wants to go to the U.S. Naval Academy someday. She?s talked about joining the Navy since she was a young child, her mother said.
?She felt it was something she wanted to do to carry on the name,? Decker said. ?It?s really honorable what she?s doing.
?I know she can do this.?
Hamilton-Decker had been spending lots of time with friends and family before leaving. Her mom said she?s been busy cooking great breakfasts for her daughter and her friends and doing whatever she needed.
?It?s going to be tough,? Decker said. ?Part of my heart?s going out, but I think she?s doing the right thing.?
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