Bittersweet

Pre-deployment leave. Funny how they call it that. They put the good with the bad. Kind of like when my boys were little and didn't like peas. I would put applesauce on the same spoon with a bite of peas. The good with the bad. Bittersweet.

Two weeks, two whole weeks with my man and my sweet children! Two weeks. We are headed out in the morning to camp as a family in our trailer. We love this time. We play board games, sleep in, eat s'mores, take hikes, swim, fish, ride bikes, talk, laugh, and hang out. We are focused on being a family. I don't have laundry (well, ok, I have it, but I can't do it!), nothing to really clean, no organizing, nothing for school, no phone, no computer, nothing but my man and my sweet children. It is such a precious time. Sweet time.

What follows though is yet another deployment. 6 months, 6 whole months. 6 months without my man and my children's sweet Daddy. He heads out in July. We dread this time. We miss him, email him, celebrate birthdays without him, long for wrestling matches and his silly jokes. We cry, laugh with him on the phone, try to remember events of our day to tell him, send him packages. We are so focused on his return date. I don't have him right there, no hubby to share talks with at night, to snuggle up against, to laugh with, go on dates with. I miss him. My sweet little ones miss him. It is such a hard time. Kind of a bitter time.

Pre-deployment leave. Bitter yet sweet. It is well with my soul.