I figured this one was fitting today. This was from February 2004...almost exactly 5 years ago. We were sending Cliff off on his 2nd deployment from Miramar to Iraq (his 5th total, and 4th to the Middle East region altogether). The weather matched my spirits...gray and drizzly.
This was a typical deployment...one where you all have to meet at a certain place and time and "hurry up and wait"...and maybe even change locations a time or two ("We're meeting at the flightline"..."as I was...now we're meeting at the armory...load that stuff back on the truck"...you get the idea). Not at all like this time, where we just showed up at the airport and that's that.
Anyway, the whole family came to the base in 2004. (The year before we just took the kids to school as usual and only I accompanied Cliff to the base.) Since it was raining, we spent most of the time sitting in the van, waiting for another group to arrive from 29 Palms by bus. There were a couple of false alarms where we thought it was time to load up...and then finally it was really time to go.
I don't know how you feel about this kind of thing. I'm usually on the cynical side, so I'm not easily impressed. But this knocked my socks off. I wish you could see exactly what we saw, but this was before my digital camera, and what showed up here was not nearly as spectacular, but you get the idea:
As we said our goodbyes, this is what we saw overhead. I had never seen any double rainbow before...let alone a full, double rainbow...and it made me feel hopeful. I knew there would be an end to the separation and sadness...and it was a wonderful reunion where we both felt great about the work we had done and the personal growth we had achieved. That is what I'm hoping for this time, too. Each time we do this, I get a little better and a little stronger. We both set our goals...and it's always kind of fun to reunite with a new appreciation for each other. I think it is so easy to take the little things for granted in day to day marriage...until you are without them.
I have so much blogging to catch up on...including yesterday...which I will do very soon, I promise.
This was a typical deployment...one where you all have to meet at a certain place and time and "hurry up and wait"...and maybe even change locations a time or two ("We're meeting at the flightline"..."as I was...now we're meeting at the armory...load that stuff back on the truck"...you get the idea). Not at all like this time, where we just showed up at the airport and that's that.
Anyway, the whole family came to the base in 2004. (The year before we just took the kids to school as usual and only I accompanied Cliff to the base.) Since it was raining, we spent most of the time sitting in the van, waiting for another group to arrive from 29 Palms by bus. There were a couple of false alarms where we thought it was time to load up...and then finally it was really time to go.
I don't know how you feel about this kind of thing. I'm usually on the cynical side, so I'm not easily impressed. But this knocked my socks off. I wish you could see exactly what we saw, but this was before my digital camera, and what showed up here was not nearly as spectacular, but you get the idea:
As we said our goodbyes, this is what we saw overhead. I had never seen any double rainbow before...let alone a full, double rainbow...and it made me feel hopeful. I knew there would be an end to the separation and sadness...and it was a wonderful reunion where we both felt great about the work we had done and the personal growth we had achieved. That is what I'm hoping for this time, too. Each time we do this, I get a little better and a little stronger. We both set our goals...and it's always kind of fun to reunite with a new appreciation for each other. I think it is so easy to take the little things for granted in day to day marriage...until you are without them.
I have so much blogging to catch up on...including yesterday...which I will do very soon, I promise.
1 comment:
That is just awesome. Brings tears to my eyes. You guys inspire me!
Post a Comment