The Realization that they are gone. Original Post 09 December 2006

When your soldier is deployed, you don't realize it at that moment, but later it hits you. You are the mother of a deployed United States Soldier. You realize it later, I guess you just don't believe it, and then it hits you like a ton of bricks.
I have never been one to do much IM'ing. But now, I live for it. I stay "available" as much as is possible, so that he can reach me at any time. (I have even considered taking my laptop to bed with me!). On a serious note, one of the hardest things to come to grips with is you can't just pick up the phone and call. While they are in the states, even though far from home, you can do this. And you can leave a message for them to call back or just to say hi. But now you can't. That has been one of the hardest things to come to terms with.
This year, as you settle in on Christmas day, or during Hanukah, please remember our nations girls and boys who are in harms way, to protect our freedoms, and to keep us (all of us) safe. This means more to the troops than you can ever imagine