Counting the days...

Let me start by saying...I love the holidays!!  i love everything about them!  I love having all of my kids in the same place if only for a little bit.  I love having time with my sweet nieces that I completely cherish.  I love traditions! I love our yearly trip around Nashville looking at Christmas lights.  I love going to my parents on Christmas Eve, followed by the Christmas Eve service at church.  I love Christmas day spent with family enjoying all the loud laughter and the crazy of having everyone together!  There really isn't one thing I don't love.  This year, it's just a little bit different.  We are missing someone - we are missing C (our soldier)! 

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!