Howard has officially started his 6 month deployment to Afghanistan (he's still en-route on the east coast.) We didn't know exactly when he was leaving, but we were guessing early next week. We were wrong! Late Thursday afternoon he got a call and he was scheduled to leave less than 24 hours later. Fortunately I has already planned an early family birthday party for him for that night, so the cake was already made and the present was already wrapped. We missed his birthday last year and we didn't want to have that happen again. The same went for Erin, since Howard missed her birthday last year (as well as her 1st). Howard took Erin on a date as an early birthday present for her that same afternoon. Anyway...the cake was good (didn't look pretty, but it was delish!) and Howard was very happy with his new iPod Touch.
Emotions have been running high for everyone around the house the past few days but it's kind of a relief now that he's gone. It felt like a band-aid was slowly getting ripped off and the pain was too much to bare, but now that he's gone I can get on with my life for the next 6 months. At least today was a great day. I took the kids to the movies and did some yard work. I still miss him terribly, but the waiting, anxiousness, and butterflies in my stomach are finally gone.
At lunch just before we left for the airport. Isn't he handsome!
Here we are at the USO just before we walked him to the security check point and said our final goodbyes. The kids were happy because the USO had free drinks and snacks, but my smile was very fake...I wasn't smiling inside.
Today was a much much better day than yesterday, the tears are gone (for now) and I'm back in the routine of taking care of the kids. Let's hope this continues.
1 comment:
Hang in there Tina! I know you'll be fine, and I just hope that everything goes smoothly for you during these next 6 months. I've never had McKay gone that long, so I can't give too much advice. But we're on our third week of a deployment, and staying busy has REALLY made all of the difference for us. We were able to have a Flat Daddy made through the Red Cross on base, and they made pillowcases with Daddy's picture on them. And using the webcam on Skype has really helped the kids. You're in my prayers, and I have no doubt that you'll be just fine!
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