Yesterday I had turned on the door chime on our alarm and when I opened the door this morning and heard the chime I thought, "Oh, I need to turn that off before Paul gets home," (because he hates that chime) and then I realized he wouldn't be home for 6 months.
Paul called just before 5pm to say he had made it to Afghanistan. It was 1am his time and he had been awake for who knows how many days. He was on his way to bed.
I had a very surreal experience this afternoon. My friends and I had gone to the USO bbq at the Coast Guard station in Boston and walked over to the Marriot Long Wharf for a cocktail and some snacks afterwards followed by a visit to the harbor seals at the aquarium. We said goodbye near the carousel so they could go on to Cambridge and I could get Stinky home. Stinky and I walked back towards the Coast Guard station to get the car and I thought about how strange it was that I was walking through Boston with a baby while my husband is in Afghanistan. Last year this weekend my cousin Katie was in town and we spent the day at the USO bbq followed by the Boston fireworks. This year I'm home alone watching the Pops on tv.
Today I was holding Stinky when a woman sang the National Anthem and I teared up. Standing among so many brave men and women, so many families who give up so much so that their spouse can serve our country and protect our freedom, so many kids who are missing out on spending time with their daddy or mommy because other countries need them...I just never thought about it, never had any idea what a military family goes through until I joined one.
I know that Paul will be home safe when his deployment is over. At the same time he is in a war zone. All we can do is pray and wait for his safe return. God bless the army and marines that are over there keeping him safe. God bless all our military not only on this July 4th, but the rest of the year as well.
Life changes so quickly.
No comments:
Post a Comment