“Couldn’t we just go home?” the crying little girl asked her mommy, as if that would keep Daddy home.
Her plea echoed my own. Everything in me screamed to take my own man in uniform and…
just go home. Leave this deployment behind and go on with our lives:
together. Set up our own home... watch our baby grow... see our dreams unfold... experience the joys that life brings to most normal newly wed couples...
But no, that wasn’t the answer. Just going home wasn’t the way it worked.
I felt so sad as I watched my husband and all the other soldiers there that day finalize their packing and load up all the possessions they would have to their names for the coming twelve months into semi trucks to be delivered to their next destination. Their mood was one of anticipation and excitement, mixed with a hint of apprehension. In just a matter of moments they would be hugging their loved ones goodbye… Some of whom they would most likely not see for an entire year’s wait.
Proud and supportive loved ones stood around, yellow ribbons pinned to their jackets. Wives and sweethearts spilled tears on the shoulder of their soldier's uniform. Little children sobbed into the necks of their daddies, trying to understand why they had to leave. Emotions were high, yet a quiet sense of strength and American pride was felt in the crowd gathered that day.
For myself, saying goodbye to the man I so deeply love was the hardest thing I've ever had to muster up the courage to do. A year is a very long time to be apart, and this day I had dreaded since we met eleven months before. It was now time to turn over the most amazing part of my life; it was the moment that marked the end of the 5 ½-month blissful dream we had lived.
For the last time, he patted my tummy and told me to take good care of his baby. For the last time he wiped away the tears trickling down my cheeks and said that everything would be okay. For the last time, he held me close to his heart and whispered that he loved me. And then he walked away, joining his platoon just before they marched out those doors and through the canopy of flags to the cheers and applause of the locals gathered outside. Just before he disappeared, he turned around and blew a kiss...
for the last time.
Even though the miles between us are great and the time between now and his return is too much for me to wrap my mind around, the bond between us has not weakened. That's the amazing thing about love and its strength.
It's the prayers and support of our friends and family across the nation that keep us going. I want to say thank you to each of you who remember us in that way.
