Home (Bitter) Sweet Home

Saying goodbye...
One of the toughest parts about being a military family. We say goodbye to our friends when we PCS to a new location, we say goodbye to other service members when they retire or return to civilian life. Today however, we are saying goodbye to my husband, as he leaves for his third deployment. Our two-year-old daughter, was four months old when he left for his last deployment. Thanks to Skype, she was able to see his face just about everyday during that 6 month stint, and she recognized him when he returned. This time, she knows daddy is going away on a ship, and he will be back later. Our newest addition, just 5 days old, doesn't understand goodbye. She doesn't realize that he hates to miss the majority of her first year of life. She's oblivious to the fact that he's the one who removed the umbilical cord from her neck just 5 days ago during our unintentional home birth (more on that later). In a way, I'm grateful for that, because while we understand and respect the honor of service to our country, goodbye hurts.

 On the bright side, my father is here. He flew across the country, not only to be with us on this difficult day, but to drive my SUV back across the country, with me and the girls in tow. He and my mother are gracious enough to let us live with them until my husband returns home. I'm looking  forward to seeing my hometown after being away for a year and a half, and I'm definitely glad to have some help with the girls, and save money all at the same time. Isn't family awesome?  

      So here we are at the drop-off location: the last place I will see my husband for the next 7-12 months. I don't know many people who cry more than I do, my husband can attest to this, but I held everything in as we made small talk with other couples in his unit. I swallowed the lump in my throat as I took pics of our two-year-old kissing my husband goodbye. I even squeezed my eyes shut during our last hug in order to keep the tears from falling. I got into the back seat of my car next to my girls, looked into the rearview mirror one last time to see him jog over to the buses, and could no longer contain my emotion. 
    After a few moments, I wiped my face and looked up at my dad in the rearview mirror. "So where are we staying for our last night before we hit the road?" I asked him. He smiled and said, "I'm thinking San Diego, but in the morning, we're hittin' the road".