We are in count down mode around here. In less than 30 days Adam will be home. In 20 days Noah will turn six. In less than a day we will have a new president. Time is a strange thing. There were moments when this deployment felt like it would never end. And of course those other moments when days just blurred into one another with an exhausted frenzy. Big things have happened in this chunk of deployment time. Noah started reading. He proudly told me the other night with some amazement: "I am reading in my mind now" (reading silently to himself). Camille is potty trained and getting more skilled at cutting at her own hair (two more times in the past week...she has some sort of scissor radar. I really have tried to hide all scissors from her). I'd like to say I have learned some snazzy new skills during this deployment, but the things I have learned to do aren't that impressive to most people (figuring out how to attach the external hard drive to the laptop, etc). The biggest thing for me has been acknowledging I really needed help and getting better at asking and accepting help from family, friends, and even total strangers.
Adam on the other hand has learned a snazzy new skill: woodworking and he has been spending long hours in the base wood shop producing some beautiful pieces. He has also been leading a very different lifestyle than us and I am starting to think about his transition home. The kids and I have pretty much maintained the same daily routine that we all had before the deployment, but Adam has spent the last seven months in a warped summer camp experience. Group living, group meals, group exercise, group recreation. He has had time for soccer,reading, movies, nightly conversations with adults, and a different type of work (emergency room vs. full scope family medicine). My friends who have gone through deployments always comment on the transition period after deployment. I am sure we will do fine but I won't be surprised by moments of tension and re-adjustment. So on this night before the Obama inauguration, I feel hopeful, excited, and anxious to get started with the next chapter. Ready to see this deployment come to an end. Anticipating and preparing for more transition. And finally truly counting down!
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I'll be counting down with you. You're amazing, Lucia. My friend's husband just deployed to Iraq and I'm hoping to be the kind of help she needs-I've gained so much insight from your gracious sharing of your experience. It's a privilege to have this glimpse into your days.
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