goodbye soldier
Reality hit hard today, and I can’t say I was ready for it. I drove Nick to Springfield this morning to board a bus for training in Mississippi. The hard part was not seeing him go, it was the realization that he stepped out of our house this morning for the last time until they return in (hopefully) December 2010. I am grateful that I will be able to see him again for Christmas in 3 short weeks, but I also know that this marks the beginning of a long, difficult year ahead. I’m not a big fan of living alone, and I hate the silence that has already consumed this house. I didn’t plan on crying this morning and I was doing really well at first (I may still have been feeling some of the many drinks from last night), and then I joined the caravan through Springfield. The buses with ours soldiers, followed by 20+ family cars, were given a police escort through the town while hundreds of people lined the streets with flags and signs to bid farewell to the 278th. I’m pretty sure I had only passed about 5-10 people when I lost it. Realizing what that moment symbolized was too much for me to take. Of course my mind is also frequently invaded by the thoughts of the harsh realities of war, and this morning was no exception. Nick is my best friend, my husband, my rock, my life. I can’t imagine living in this world without him, and I hope more than anything that I never have to find out. I am so insanely proud of him though. There is nothing more honorable that what our soldiers do, and I am amazed by the courage and strength they exhibit each and every day. This is our first deployment, but it won’t be our last. And we will get through each one with the love that has bonded us for the last 6+ years, and I know it will make us stronger and closer than we’ve ever been. I will survive for my husband, our families, our friends, and what this country stands for. I’m an army wife… it’s what I do.
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