My husband Steve will be heading out tommorow evening to Afghanistan. We have already said our good byes for now this past Wednesday because he had to leave from Colorado with the rest of his troops. I already miss him, but I am proud of what he is doing for our country and I am proud to call him my husband. I love him for who he was, who he is and what he has become. I can honestly say we truly complete each other because we are such opposites. Temporary good byes are never easy or any good byes for that matter, but I am happy to say that I did not break down (atleast not in front of him)`and remained strong for my husband. I didn't want to make it any harder than it already is with him leaving his family and friends.
Many people seem surprised when they learn he has joined the army during a not so great time in the middle east and ask him why he decided to join. He simply states why not? It could easily have been someone else's husband, son, brother, uncle or friend. He told me when he gets back, he will have lots of stories to share. Stories... I am sure are beyond my understanding and comprehension just because I wasn't there to experience what he will. The sad part is he knows that everyone he is leaving with tommorrow will not make it. It is the reality of war. He is working with combat engineers who are the first to go in and clear the roads by scouting for those infamous roadside bombs. For this I ask for you to say a prayer for all the solidiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. "We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." George Orwell
My friend Samantha, who is already in Afghanistan, said it took them a few days to get to Afghanistan from Fort Hood, TX. She left on a Saturday evening and got into the country on a Tuesday early morning because of the time changes. Afghanistan is 11 hours and 30 minutes ahead of our time. They stayed on the same plane for a very long long time and had a few stops here and there. If Steve gets to Afghanistan early tuesday morning, I am assuming I will not hear from him for days because of the lack of communication on the plane. Hopefully when he gets to his final destination, he will have access to a phone or internet. I think waiting and not knowing what is going on wil be the hardest part.
For friends and family:
If anyone is interested in sending care packages to Steve, I found this website called www.armywives.com that has a lot of great ideas for what to send. Here is the link below. The items are grouped by various categories by scrolling down the left panel:
and
Army Wives Network
Also, don't forget to register for Hooah mail once you find out his mailing address if you are interested in sending letters to Steve. It is only for soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The service is free, ptrivate and secure. How it works is that you would log in the website and type him your letter. Once you electronically send the letter, the post office will hand deliver the printed letter within 24 hours. It is much faster than snail mail and you do not have to wait for Steve to check his email! You can also attach photos but they will be printed in black and white. This is a great way to send him messages him fast, but a nice hand written letter is great as well. Here is the link for that site:
Finally, I will be posting more lighter and healthier recipes and getting back on track with becoming a healthier me soon on my other blog Lighter Recipes. I will post a link to the recipes as well as give updates about my husband on this blog. What a great surprise that would be for my hubby to see a new slimmer me!
Taken at Hubby's Deployment Party thrown by his family
I had to show a photo of his wonderful cake with me being a foodie and all!
