Tag Archives | missed events

Best Ball Boy Ever

By on October 12, 2010 in Deployment, Everyday moments, Fun

I wake up before sun-up today, which come to think of it isn’t that hard here in the northeast. Why 5:10? No clue, but I give up at 5:30 and start my day. I actually feel pretty good since I had a couple of good night’s sleep prior. I forgot to make the coffee again last night. It has now become a habit not to set the coffee maker. I have not remembered once yet. Maybe tonight? The aroma of Starbucks caramel coffee is just heavenly at 5:30 in the morning. I sit and read in the quiet morning while I wait for the java to brew. The sun starts to peak out and I get a glimpse of yet another beautiful fall day to come. I like to go up and write my blog post before the kids get up. It’s easier to think in the quiet. I send Alex off to school and check in with Elijah at breakfast. I opt to do yoga this morning instead of weights or running. I can still feel the discomfort in my back and wage the mental battle of criticism or is it martyrdom? I know intellectually that I really need to go easy on my body until I am 100 percent, but the little voice in my head screams at me that I am an exercise failure. Where’s the volume switch on that voice?

Elijah and I read a chapter from our book and then he’s off to school and I’m off to my office to work. Work is steady, but sort of slow, which is odd and a bit unsettling for the day after a long weekend. I’m not complaining, but I’m just saying…

Waiting expectantly

Elijah has been asked to be “ball boy” for a Varsity soccer game and he has been excited for two days. I can tell he is nervous, but looking forward to it. He is in the car waiting a full 10 minutes before its time to leave. We pick up pick up Daniel and head to the high school. I’m not sure which is more fun, watching the fast paced, exciting play on the field or watching Elijah excitedly run up and down the long field. His nervousness is apparent at first, but he settles in and seems to be thoroughly enjoying this exhausting job. The team thanks him and the coach and referee tell him what a good job he is doing. When the coach yells across the field in his booming voice, “Way to hustle Elijah,” I swear my son grows another 2 inches. He is practically walking on air by the time we leave. I sit there in the chilly fall air with one son at my side, beaming with joy as I watch another son growing just a bit older and more confident, while the sun goes down over a bunch of teenage boys battling their hearts out on the playing field. I can’t help but think, this is life, not a special occasion, but every day, real life at its finest.

On the run

I’m sad that my husband missed this experience, for this moment is gone and can never be repeated. I am filled with a bittersweet longing for an easy “normal” life. It hits me at times, the enormity of it all, and the reality that my husband has lost 6 months of our lives. A half a year worth of experiences and memories that we cannot get back. The best I can do is soak it all in, take pictures and share as best I can. Most days that seems good enough, but today I feel a little ache in my heart that it’s not.

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Vacation Adventures

By on August 11, 2010 in Deployment

It was not a good night. I had difficulty going to sleep. I had to close the window to block the sound of the neighbors, but then my room was like a sauna. I finally dozed off, only to be awakened at 2AM because the dogs were snoring so loudly. I took a good 10 minutes of fumbling around to locate my earplugs and by then I was so annoyed that sleep was troublesome. I so wanted to be rested for this day, but I will have to make the best of it.
I get up before my alarm and make a double cup of instant coffee. It is going to be a beautiful day, we are going to visit Montreal and I am determined to enjoy it. I tell the kids that I am going for a shot run which will delay our departure, but I need to shake my bad night off and soak up the happy sun. I have always wanted to see Montreal, though I had hoped that it would be a trip that Anthony and I would take together.  Unfortunately that is not the case, but we have the opportunity and we are going.
We leave mid-morning and on the way I call and add the international data plan to my phone because I am pretty sure I will need directions or information at some point. We have brief moment of pause when the border guard seems to grill us a bit more than expected. Perhaps he thinks I am abducting my daughter because her last name is different from mine? I cannot be the only remarried parent to cross the border with her children. I am surprised when he asks me point blank where their dad is and why he is not with me. I don’t think he is expecting the answer that my husband is military serving in Afghanistan, but it shuts him up and we move on. We manage to get safely to our destination though it is no small feat since my husband tells me I am a terrible navigator and I am trying to drive and navigate at the same time. The kids are not much help.
We walk through downtown and visit the planetarium; Elijah’s choice of course. I think I enjoy the show about Saturn more than either of the kids do. Then we head down to Old Montreal on the water. We wander the cobblestone streets, eat Rolo candy ice cream cones, take lots of pictures, gape at yachts in the harbor and delightedly watch the street performers. Elijah could watch the man juggling and doing tricks all day. He is so like his father!

We are happy and exhausted; we grab a quick dinner and head back to our temporary home. For some reason, the border guard coming back into the country seems to ask lots of questions also. What specifically did we do while in Montreal? I list our itinerary and he seems satisfied, but I wonder if I look suspiciously like a terrorist and I just don’t know it.
I am so glad we decided to go and I am so proud of what we were able to do. We navigated with no map and signs in a foreign language, drove through a crowded city without hitting any pedestrians, found our way to all of our destinations without getting lost and had a great time.

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The Eagle Has Landed

By on July 18, 2010 in Deployment

I could not fall asleep last night – nothing new there, so when I get up at 7, I am utterly exhausted. This seems to be a normal state for me, at least for the last 20 years. I briefly entertain the idea of rolling over and attempting to go back to sleep, but first of all I have too much to do today and second, I know I will not fall back to sleep anyway.

We attend Daniel’s girlfriend, Liz’s graduation party this afternoon. It is so nice of them to invite us and I am glad to have something to do, but at the same time all I can think about are all of the things I need to do at home.  It is now a foregone conclusion that someone will ask me where Anthony is. Then that is always followed by the normal thread of questions. “How long will he be gone?” “Where is he stationed?” “What does he do there?” The hardest is always, “How do you do it?” My answer is just so inadequate, but truthful all the same. “I just do what has to be done, because I have no choice.” I sure hope his country appreciates what we endure for them. The sad truth is that most people do not care or even give it a passing thought. A few do however, the ones that matter anyway and that is enough.

Anthony sent me a one sentence email this morning to let me know that he has finally arrived at the base in Bagram. He is exhausted and harried, but settling in now. The six month countdown can now officially begin. A summer storm is rolling in and it suits my mood today.

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