When I was 21, I conducted my grandmother's funeral service. Just getting there was a nightmare; my plane from DC was grounded in St. Louis in a snowstorm. My mom and cousin met me at the airport the morning of the service with a black dress, stockings, shoes...clothes that I never wore again. But life is funny; we move on, grow, learn, love. This year I went through a different, and even harder, kind of difficulty: watching my kids say goodbye to their father as he prepares for deployment to a combat zone.
After spending a few wonderful days at home in Austin, Tracy's unit departed from DFW on September 14th. We followed the bus from the hotel to the airport, and the USO arranged for the families to go through security and wait with our soldiers at the gate. I will always be thankful for that time we had together.
We’ve gotten to stay in this particular hotel quite a bit over the last few months and the kids have really enjoyed it. They especially like the kid-sized refrigerator!
The soldiers boarded their bus shortly after 5:00 am. It was an incredibly early morning for the kids, considering we didn’t get to sleep until around 1 am, but they handled it well. At the airport, we wrote on the “good luck” sign that will be sent over to the unit headquarters. I didn’t tell the girls what to write, but they knew. The mark above Pook’s writing is Bitty’s “E”.
We watched through the window until Daddy’s plane took off. About ten miles from the airport, my front left tire blew out spectacularly on Loop 635. Somehow I managed not to wreck the van and we spent the next hour waiting for help. We finally got on our way. The girls crashed out soon after, but Bitty had one final commentary on this lousy day.
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