My brother-in-law, Tracy, returned home from Iraq on Sunday. Well, technically he's not home yet - he is debriefing at a base in Kansas or Missouri or something - but Lisa and the kids are there with him and MOST IMPORTANTLY he is on American soil. Man, it has been a long year! I don't know how Lisa did it- but it is safe to say we are all breathing a little easier now. My heart goes out to everyone who still has family and friends serving in Iraq and I will keep them in my prayers for a safe and speedy return.
Just as a side note... Nathan, Lisa and Tracy's middle child, decided to celebrate Dad's imminent return by falling off the monkey bars at school last week and breaking his arm in 3 places. I think if Tracy hadn't come home soon, Lisa was prepared to go over and drag him back!
2 comments:
Lamont got back about a month ago (though only a 6 mo deployment). The girls were taking it hard. Jenn stepped next door one day to borrow some sugar or something and when she came back the girls were in hysterics. Later she found a note on her door that said: "Mom. Never leave us again!"
It breaks your heart...
I'm glad he's back. My uncle was in the Navy and I asked my mom, once, how her sister coped...especially since he was gone once for an entire year and she had a baby while he was gone, and they had already had one. So when he got back he had two children and hardly knew either of them.
My mom said: "The being gone wasn't so hard. As long as you have a date to count on, the time passes and you cope. The problem was when he got back and wanted to be dad again and his wife had been running things just fine without him...." :)
I'm glad Lamont is back too. I read on Marci's blog that he had been sent over. It really is so hard on the kids!
The irony on Lisa's side is that she was actually doing a psychological study on the effects that deployment of one or both parents has on their children. I think she added her kids to the study when Tracy left.
We had the chance to spend some time with Lisa and the kids while Tracy was gone. They were so happy to have any sort of male relative around they would start wrestling with their uncles and beg for their constant attention. It was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. Lisa has some very funny and sad entries on her blog about all of this.
Tracy was deployed before - for 6 months in Bosnia. We were all upset by this until the US went to war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and he was safely keeping the peace instead of fighting a war. Like your aunt, Lisa had Nathan while Tracy was away. She drove herself to the hospital and everything!
Her concern with Tracy's latest return is also much like your Aunt. She has been parenting alone for a year now - is their room for another opinion? =)
I don't know how she did it!
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