I got to talk online with my Soldier Son earlier today. Its the first time I’ve been able to talk with him on the computer in about a month. His computer has been out of whack and he finally got it back up and running.
I wonder how people stood it when Soldiers went off to war and didn’t have computers to communicate with their families? It is very reassuring to me just to be able to see that he’s been online and especially if I get a chance to chat with him for a few minutes. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t even have that. The last month, not having that, has been strange. I’ve not had any idea where he was, what he was doing or how he was doing.
So it was very nice chatting with him earlier.
We only talked a couple of minutes. He was getting ready to leave his FOB to got out into the wilds of the Baghdad neighborhood he is living in. As usual his internet connection was spotty at best, so he was there and gone and back again several times. At least I got to see that he was okay.
He’s a Captain now. I told him that I’ll still tell him what to do, lecture him and scold him. He just laughed (at least he typed lol). He typed ‘of course you will’, that he wouldn’t expect it to be any different. He wrote that he knows how I am! I told him that he wasn’t a snot nosed lieutenant anymore. He typed that now he’s a snot nosed captain. Not much different he wrote.
He’s busy getting ready for the return to Germany. At times, during this deployment, its been very frustrating talking to him. Each time their date for rotating out of Baghdad was set back a month or more I could feel the tension and frustration even through the keyboard of the computer. But now, with a date set in stone (as much as it can be), he is much more communicative. It seems that all he’s thinking about is what all he’s going to do when he gets back to Germany.
He seems homesick. He talked a lot about wanting to come to the States for a while. He hopes he can come here during block leave after the first of the year. He hasn’t been here in so long. He talks about floating down an Alabama river as though that’s the most luxurious thing he can think of 
doing. Its like a distant dream he holds onto so that he can keep walking through the sewage of Baghdad.
He is so much like my father that I can’t help but believe those things are inborn and we, as parents, have little to no influence on their personalities. He dreams big dreams and makes big plans just like my father did. For the last seven or eight months of this deployment he’s been making those plans in his mind and dreaming of picking up his life again when he leaves that desperate place.
I’m just so excited he’s coming home - even if its Germany instead of here. At least I can call him and hear his voice. At least I know its less likely he’ll have people shooting to kill him. At least he’ll be as safe as any other American would be and is. I’m dreaming too. I’m making plans to go to Germany to see him when he gets back. He’s getting married during Christmastime at a German castle to a beautiful Fraulein who has been a source of great comfort and support for him while he’s been deployed. I’m so happy he can finally start living the life he has dreamed of and start pursuing his ambitions. I’m happy he’ll finally be able to sleep. I’m happy he’ll be able to start letting go of the hyper-vigilance Soldiers are known to endure. I’m happy he’ll be able to go out without full body armor and drive down the road without looking for bombs and spotting for snipers. I’m happy he’s coming home, back to the world.
I’m counting the days … no where near as much as he is I’m sure. I’m just so excited he’s at the tail end of his deployment. Its been an excruciatingly long 15 months!
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I am so happy for you and him Beth. Please let us know when he gets home.
I’m happy to hear your boy is going to be alright. ?:-)
Floating down an Alabama river would probably be one of the best things for him when he gets home, I hope he can make time to do so.
I know you hear this all the time, that your family and your son are in our thoughts and prayers. It’s not just lip service, it’s heartfelt, and we pray that they can all join us in the future with the label of “Veteran.”
Until then, we’re very proud of them as Soldiers.
God Bless
What a long, long journey for you both.
Thank you for sharing this with us. I love the photo of the two of you when he was a baby. I’ve put you on the sidebar of my blog so that I can follow your story.
Thank you all for your well wishes!! I started not to post this thinking I might jinx it! lol
Polly - I’ll add you as well.
Thank you all. Its a wonderful thing ]:-)
I love the picture of the two of you! I don’t know how you’ve held together so well for so long. We’ve still got several months before my son comes home, but it’s not TOO far off. Marines usually deploy for 7 months. Then it will be time to think about my second son’s deployment!
Such a wonderful post,Beth. Made me cry, but it was great to read and look at the photos. Thanx.