It's been like that--like riding an emotional roller coaster. Good times with grandkids, great storytelling events that left me with adrenaline highs, then today, waving goodbye yet again to a plane full of soldiers.
They'll go back to Wisconsin where they've been training for the past two months, then in a couple of days they'll be on their way to Tikrit, Iraq. I was astonished at the age of the unit--I learned from some of the wives there that the average age of this group was 40! The two ladies I talked to had husbands who would be 60 years old when they return. Somehow I envisioned our armed forces as young--I thought my son, at 35, was older than most of the men he'd be serving with but such is not the case.
The year will pass quickly. We'll have his kids over here, do things with them, and make plans for when he returns. It will be okay. We'll get through it, like all the other military families who have to do this. I admired one lady today, pregnant and smiling as she waved her husband away. Now that is courage. Sure she cried a little, but she held on until the end and I will keep a picture of her in my mind. I know her soldier is proud of her, as she is of him.
I took no pictures today. We've done this once already, and today I just wanted to be there, to help the kids, and to try to keep a smile on my face. For the most part, I succeeded. Now my next job--keep in touch with him via email, teach the kids how to email, and keep them as busy as I can, and surrounded by love.
Thanks for sharing - we need to hear that the war is personal.
ReplyDeleteThe part about the pregnant wife waving goodbye to her husband brought tears to my eyes. This will be my daughter in Feb 2008 as she will be 7 months pregnant waving goodbye to her husband as he leaves for Iraq.
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