Our parting is more sweet this time because I know he has a very full life scheduled for the next several months. He will start classes, be promoted, and have some other big life announcements to make. It’s sweet to hug his neck good-bye knowing that he faces the same risks as your average American at this point. No more, no less. Normal and unexciting is such a nice venue! I know, God willing, that I will see him again in December. We are planning ahead. He will be coming home to be a best man in his younger brother’s wedding. We will celebrate a wedding and Christmas together. These are the plans we talked about this visit.

We did talk about future deployments. We know they are coming. It’s inevitable. I know it will be hard, but I promised myself that I would only fret over the worries I have today. I am learning not to borrow that future trouble. I spent time fretting a year ago that he would come home badly wounded or worse. That time will never be given back to me, and it was spent worrying about something that never happened — and I am so incredibly grateful that it didn’t happen. I just wish I had spent the time I did in worry and fretting in a more constructive state of mind. I want to, so badly, learn from that experience. I am praying that it does not pass me by without changing something inside of me for the better.