Bubba Home!

So, Bubba is back from two weeks in the field and besides the insurmountable mountain of laundry in the basement, I am SO glad he is home. Ever since he got back from his deployment in July, when he is not here I miss him more than ever. I guess it brings back to front and center the pain from last year. Last year was hard. Enough said. I don't ever want to go back there again. One of the driving forces behind Bubba deciding that the time is right for retirement is that he doesn't want to deploy again. Twenty-two years in the Army, countless short deployments, multiple long ones have taken their toll on him. Folks who are not in the military seem to live under the idea that for us it gets easier every time....that we get used to them being gone. They couldn't be more wrong. Whether the time away is just over the weekend for training or for longer, it is NEVER easy. With each absence, Bubba is missing time...time with BoyBoy playing Command and Conquer on the computer or Legos in the basement, time with me discussing what we want to be when we grow up or just holding hands on the patio. That is time we will never get back. Don't get me wrong, I love the Army life and I am a little bit terrified of what life will be like in the "real world", but there are times when I wonder what it have been like if Bubba had been a corporate geek and we had stayed put from the beginning. And then, I remember...we have had the chance to see the world, face our fears, have the difficult conversations, and meet a melting pot of friends who know our pain and will live it with us for the rest of our lives. And then, I am thankful. I wouldn't trade it for anything.