Good-Bye Daddy!!!

Finishing up the "Honey Do" List because he's awesome!

Cake for Breakfast

The kids asked John to open the presents they made him - I thought we were going to bury them for him to find when he unpacked but I was corrected!

One last picture - the sun was shining

in their eyes but they gave it a good effort.

You know, it's always a somewhat odd feeling to send John packing. The month or so leading up to the actual Good Bye is hard, but the event itself is kind of underwhelming. You would think that when your husband goes, you should feel compelled to grab on to him and dramatically beg him not to leave before retreating to a dark corner where you spend hours sobbing in misery. Really? It's not that cool.

I remember in 2002 when (Baby) Justin and I stood on the pier 5 feet from John, who was standing on the deck of the USS Thach, waiting for the ship to leave and take him to his first deployment. It was ridiculous! We stared at him and he stared at us, both of us searching for something to say. I felt bad because I wanted the ship to leave but I knew I wanted him to stay. Finally one of the smarter wives (Wendy) says to me, "This is pathetic. I'm leaving." She was right! Who needs to sit around crying when it's really a whole lot easier to rip the bandaid off and get back to life? While it sounds a little bit callous, it's true. It's a great tactic to help you realize that life does go on and that if you have a strong foundation in your life/marriage, you'll be fine! There's a sense of pride and confidence you find when you have the strength to turn your back and walk away instead of standing there waiting to be left.

So, that's about how this morning went. We all got up and watched John pack the last few things, strap his bike to the back of the car, and organize his 50 million pieces of electronics that he simply insists he needs to live his daily life. We got the kids up and had cake for breakfast (because John felt the desire to be the cool parent while I lectured about silly things like, oh, vitamins and nutrition). Other than that, we had a perfectly normal morning. I was fighting tears while he hugged the kids and he, as always, did a great job of laughing and playing with them. He is a wonderful father and it shows in every interaction he has with them. We went to the car and the kids insisted that he open their "presents" so he did that with them. He hugged me extra hard - I cried - and then he got into his car. We stood at the front door and waited for him to drive away like we always do when someone leaves...but that dumb navigation system was getting the best of him and I could not believe how long it was taking him to get settled into the car!!!

After a few minutes, I had a flashback to the time when I was standing on that pier in San Diego and decided, "This is pathetic!" I went into the house, got the keys, and put our kids in the Suburban so that we could go somewhere. We all waved at Daddy and then drove to Dunkin Doughnuts for a coffee (the kids drink decaf - I promise) . We drove over the Mount Hope Bridge and looked at the water because I wanted to give him enough time to finally get that navigation system set.

When we got home, John was gone and we went about our day. John left me the sweetest card in the world and Justin was the one who delivered that to me. That made him feel very cool and I could see the pride in his eyes as he completed his mission and helped his Mom feel better. Annalise was very aware that something was going on (she would say, "I'm sad because Dad is going to Florida") but she had a hard time understanding exactly what that meant. She and I looked at the calendar and she was able to grasp this: "We are going to Michigan for one week, you will go to ballet one time afer that, and then we will go to Florida and see Dad at Nana's house." She's repeated that schedule to anyone who will listen, so I think that helps her with the whole idea.

I'm writing this about 2 weeks after John left, and as you will see by my later posts, I think we're managing fine. We've kept busy and made sure that we remember he loves us. We talk about him every day and we know that our family is never complete without him, but we also know that we're fine while he's gone. I'm so proud of my kids and I smile because they will be able to look back and remember how brave they have been as they do their part to serve our country.