Upcoming Deployment

I haven't told many people this but Ron is deploying this summer. He will be somewhere in the middle east (if he knows he can't tell me yet) and should be gone for 6 months.

Already we are seeing problems with the kids. Theodore wouldn't give Ron a hug or kiss for about a month after we told him. Vivian cries a lot and we can't watch or listen to news while she is around because anything about that area upsets her. Samuel has been regressing, which is really tough since he has made terrific progress in the past year.

I have a hard time processing how they are handling it. I was born and raised with the military. I remember understanding that conflict anywhere in the world could mean Dad was gone for weeks to months (including not seeing him for 18 months in one go). I remember missing him, but not being really upset, scared, or even crying.

Their reactions are normal, especially since he last deployed almost 8 years ago (we consider it lucky how long it has been since the last one, the Air Guard is much better about it than the Army Guard). They don't remember it.

Their schools have been supportive and we have friends who are making it much easier. My job has been great too. I have been unable to get a regular babysitter so I can keep working and they have told me to just give them a call when I am ready to return and they will put me back to work.

This deployment is bothering me more than the last one. He was on an island off the Saudi coast last time and there was a lot of popular support for the military on it. This time we know he will be in the middle of the dessert, things are scary over there right now. I have had nightmares about people in their dress uniforms ringing my doorbell. I will say that actually having done the same job that he does makes me less scared than I would be since I know exactly what he'll be doing and what the job entails (he won't be on the front line with an M16).