"He's a great kid... He's a really great kid," Gwen McCarroll said.

She then looks down, and realizes she's making a mistake.

"He's a great - man," she then said.

Marines are never thought of as being just "kids." She knows that. It still doesn't make things any easier. Not with her son in Afghanistan right now.

"He left [for Afghanistan] on May 19," she said.

Cpl. Shane Greuel turned 21 last week. McCarroll sent his birthday gift to him seven weeks ago.

"It still hasn't gotten there yet," she said. "I have only heard from him twice since May, and both times they were five minute conversations."

Such is life for the parent of a son or daughter living in Afghanistan right now. It's not getting any easier.

So far this month, 45 American members of the military have died in the war-torn country. It's already made it the second deadliest month since the start of the war. Fifty died in August.

"Oh, there's not a minute that goes by when I don't think of him," McCarroll said.

When news of another American casualty comes, she immediately starts doing some research.

"Usually you go check the map to see where it has happened, to make sure it's not in his area, even though you really don't know exactly where he is at," McCarroll said.

"He's in infantry," she said.

She knows it puts him in some of the most dangerous spots in the world right now. She's still proud of him though.

"I think it just takes a special person to sign on the dotted line and go to serve your country," she said. "He told me that he needed to be there, that it was his job."

Of course, as a mother, she still knows when her son is scheduled to come home.

"Hopefully by the end of December," she said with a smile. "It sure would make for a good Christmas present."