Deployment Day

Goodbyes are always hard, and this was the toughest yet.

Donald left for Afghanistan on June 11th, in the wee hours of the night. We spent our last few hours together in the NICU, hanging out as a family. 

After 6 years of marriage and several months-long goodbyes, I've never cried during departure. This one got me though. Thankfully it was a small group leaving, and I hopped in my car when the tears started flowing, pridefully well hidden. I followed his bus until they exited the freeway toward the appropriate air field. Under any other circumstances, that'd be creepy. Donald would still probably say it was. Meh.

 

 

 

Hours later he phoned me. Their flight had been delayed, and he needed his iPad charger and laptop.
Out the door I ran! I would soon be getting just one more kiss! Ant fellow military wife knows that rush.

Then he called again, when I was 90% there, to inform me their flight was suddenly un-delayed. Typical Army.
After briefly guilting myself with what-if's (I had stopped at Jack in the Box to get him breakfast... an unnecessary surprise and fatal delay!), I decided to swing by the hospital and spend time snuggling my babies instead. If I remember correctly, I was in pajamas. Sans makeup. Puffy face. Haggard. 

 The babies didn't notice or care though, so it was a nice visit.

And that was Donald's deployment day.
He'll be back in late February or early March, and we can hardly wait!