What happened to that little child that as an infant I would lovingly refer to as "my little chinaman"? I watched him grow up, sometimes wanting him to get here quick to be more responsible...but as that day got closer, the more I began to wish that we could go back to the beginning and start over. To go through it much slower so I could soak up more memories, cherish more moments. Each new visit with him, I see all the changes...the growth that he has gone through, built upon the foundation he set while at home. During his tour of the Mediterranean, he called to tell me that he was going on a "training exercise" and that I wouldn't hear from him for a month...didn't sound right to me, so worrying set in. A week of communication silence broken with a call telling me that since there was a press leak he could tell me he was in Kosovo. "Oh great," I thought, "just what a parent wants to hear that their son is in the Balkan hotbed, what could be worse?" How about getting a call on 9/12 with him telling me that they were heading out of Kosovo, couldn't tell me where and that it would be awhile before I would hear from him again. Months of silence while Afghanistan raged on and finally his voice on the phone telling me he was on his way home in a few days as his group was being relieved of their long tour away from home. Now with all that is still happening in Iraq, silence again. They say "no news is good news", little does that do for the nerves. I just know that so much more than words could ever express, knowing there is always a smile inside when I hear him call me "Pops"...soon, I hope to hear this again...
mail to: house of boongus@hotmail.com
to my house