Day 17 - Goodbye, Again

The weekend went too fast. But of course, it had to end. We had round 2 of goodbyes today, and this time seemed harder than the last. Maybe it was because we were awake. (He snuck off in the wee morning hours last time.) Maybe it was because we knew we were returning to the hard life without him. Maybe it was because the next stretch is 5 weeks long.


I'm sure it is hard for him to drive away. He wants to be here with us, but needs to do his job. What a conflict of duty. In a way, I would imagine it's harder for him than it is for us.

When he got activated in 2003, the war was just starting and neither of us knew what was in store. He was training 2 hours away, so we had a few chances to see each other before he flew overseas. We never knew when the "real goodbye" would be. Those were some heart breaking emotional goodbyes. The last time I saw him, I was driving away after dropping him off at the drill center. He just stood there in the parking lot until I got out of sight. Days later he flew to Kuwait just as President Bush was giving Saddam Hussein a 48 hour ultimatum to leave Iraq. Terrifying for both of us, except I didn't have the rockets firing at me...so I guess I was the one better off.


So in comparison, these goodbyes are not as hard as during that time. Still, it's a terrible feeling to see him drive away.