I just read Susan's posting from yesterday. Trust me when I say nothing prepares you for saying good bye to your loved ones at an Airport knowing you won't see them again for a year. I have known I was leaving for a year but saying good bye to your wife (who is your best friend), and your son at the airport was the second hardest thing I have ever done. The first hardest thing I ever did was saying good bye last time I deployed (2003). Granted my family is older now, the kids are more responsible, and our marriage is better than ever before. (Did I mention that this time I have a grand baby?) This past year we have laughed, cried, shared our innermost feelings, had our wills done, and worked together to build our home/cabin for the next leg of our life's journey together. If you can build a home together working side by side, share your ideas verbally, make your ideas come to life, compromise, and do it again if it's wrong, you can survive anything.
After my wife and son left I watched a family with a new born child say good bye. I know my own send off was rough but saying good bye to a new born child.... (the words to express this escape me)
My family has been through the deployment thing before but on the airplane ride here I was able to see the good bye through other eyes. The couple I was seated by on the airplane talked to me about the scene they had witnessed at the airport. The couple was in their 70's, had four grown children, and had never been exposed to the deployment of a soldier close hand. They were in the terminal waiting to board the plane with the 40 soldiers on their way to Fort Lewis Wa. (FLWA Army acronym). The wife kept me awake for most of the flight (3 hours) asking questions. She said her and her husband were both well educated but witnessed a life they knew nothing about. I told her that most of these soldiers were putting their lives on hold to serve their country. Some of the soldiers I'm deploying with are teachers, homemakers, students, lawyers, mechanics, cops, nurses, firemen, and school crossing cards. All of those deploying knew that in today's world it wasn't a matter of if you were going to deploy but a question of when and where.
I also told her that the best way I could explain it to her was though an experience I had at church recently. The mass was dedicated to the soldiers of the 34th Infantry Division. The mass talked about the soldiers of God that followed Jesus. The soldiers of God left their jobs, families and life's to follow Jesus with no thought of what in it for them. The soldiers did it because they believed in what they were doing and that it was right. The father transitioned this into the modern day soldier. He said that the soldiers of the 34th ID are doing this because they were called to serve. Whether its right or wrong that we are in Iraq, the soldiers are serving because they believe it's the right thing to do.
The lady opened her Bible and was writing down some information. I was nodding off when she asked me if her church could pray for my family, the soldiers, and their families. I told her that we need all the help we can get to get through this. I know in my own life I have asked God to look out for my family, my friends and to help me make it through this ordeal. Please add the soldier and his family to your prayer list.
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