Power in Presence
I was asked by another Veteran to write down a story from my term in service for a book she is writing. There are many, this is one. Leaving to go back was the worst. It was the fastest two weeks I had ever experienced in my life. Two amazing weeks, sharing cups of coffee each morning with my wife, laughing with my precocious daughter, deer hunting with my son, and Thanksgiving with all our extended family and it simply came to an end. What was waiting on the other side was not something I prepared for or even considered. My time on R and R came to an end. I had been in Iraq for 6 months and was staring down another 6. The days flew by and they dragged by, time was somehow bent. But there it was, another airplane waiting to take me away from my family, again. It's something we get used to in an Army at war, the continual separation and reunion. It can get pretty exhausting. But there it was, the plane. I boarded and set my mind on what was next, back to the desert and takin...