That New Perspective

Just when you're prepared to throw yourself the pity party of the season, take a cue from Atticus and consider a day's walk in someone else's shoes.

My brother, for instance.

A seasoned marine, my brother is the father of four unbelievable kids ranging in age from 13 years to eighteen months. He also happened to marry one of the most unbelievable people I know (a sister of the heart, if not the blood) in Nurse Julie. He is my older brother and, having barely survived two cross country trips in a cramped car as kids, I consider him one of the most important people in my life.

And yet, today, he is returning to Iraq.

I actually just got off the phone with him, needing to talk to him one more time before his feet found themselves standing on sandy soil and my heart is broken all over again. The first deployment was tough (baby Charlotte was but a few months old at the time), but this one seems tougher.

So here is my new perspective, my new reason for getting over my own self-indugence. Paul will be gone from his wife and children for an entire year. Four little birthdays, a dance recital or two, countless soccer and baseball games, the first day of school, their anniversary, fireworks on the 4th, Halloween costumes on the 31st, Christmas morning, and every morning in between.

365 days begins today.

And every day I will include a post about this deployment; it may be an anecdote, a diatribe, or just a sentence. Whatever it is, a year is a long time and consider this Day 1.

Semper Fi.