This year has definitely been different for us. One year ago - I sat down with C at dinner, he had just enlisted in the Army and had been given his ship date. On January 15, we dropped C off and he left for OSUT (One Station Unit Training) for 15 long weeks. From the moment I dropped him off - I started counting the days until graduation...110 days. He got to come home on leave evening of May 5, and I immediately started counting down the 10 short days he would be home. When I left the airport on the afternoon of May 15, it hit me on the way home... I had nothing to count down. I didn't know when I would see him again. It was a horrible feeling - my baby was moving 3,144 miles away, and I couldn't do one thing about it. But then, I got the phone call in October that leave had been approved for him to come home for Christmas. So...guess what happened next?? You guessed it - the count down. I had something to look forward to - 63 days! Now... we are at 17 days and I could not be more excited!!!
As I started thinking about the number of days that have consumed me this year - out of 365, I have gotten to (or will) see him for a whopping total of 32 days! That means K, J and I have missed him for 333 days! I knew I would miss him - but I didn't realize just how much! So - this year, we will all enjoy having our family time just a little bit more. We will continue to love on each other and squeeze in as much family time as we can while C is here for 14 days and more importantly - we will celebrate the reason for the season!
