It’s been three weeks since he left. The days fly by but the weeks are creeping. In all the years with all the TDY’s and deployments this will be our first Thanksgiving apart in eighteen years.
We aren’t really big Thanksgiving celebrators (if that’s what you call it). For years we didn’t even cook a turkey, we had pizza.
When we lived in West Virginia our Thanksgiving pizza tradition was replaced with a Thanksgiving hunting tradition. We won’t be hunting this year as I have no desired to clean a deer by myself.
I think my boys are bummed about it, but they have a good idea in spite of it all.
I’m proud of my boys. They’ve all stepped up in one way or another. I know this is hard on them, really hard.
They miss their dad.
My husband has been deployed to the Middle East for 274 days. These are my real thoughts expressing my heart during his absence. I appreciate your prayers and kind words as we cope, adapt, and carry on without him until August 2014. To read from the beginning, click here.
Becky says
On October 18, my husband returned home after 1 year in the middle east. Shortly after he left, our son turned 14. He shut down and would not discuss his feelings or his dad for a long time. He was protecting himself. He also stepped up and was very helpful around the house. What I can say is that deployment is not easy on the soldier or the family, but you can do it. There will be days that you just need to cry, and there will be days that you will feel so strong because you can do anything! The first deployment, I refused to ask for help. I learned in this deployment, that it makes people feel good to help and it is okay to ask for help when you need it. Instead of counting the days, I got through each season. When I was in my last season, then the countdown began. Looking back the time went very quickly. We are back to normal and life is GOOD! We used an app called Tango and were able to text, call and face time for free. It might be something you could use to stay connected. I wish you and your family the best!