The day of his departure was a long day. He was set to leave that night around midnight, so we had the entire day before having to say goodbye. We used the day wisely accomplishing things around the house along with getting in the final dose of quality time together. We acted like the day was a regular, mundane day; but as night approached and the daylight turned dark nether of us said much. We knew what was coming. All too quickly the time came to load the car and we made the drive out to post. I had not cried until this point (I told Stan I would be strong for him) but once we were in the parking lot and the car turned off, I couldn't hold back the tears. He got out of the car, put on this gear, and we said our goodbyes. He told me not to worry, to take of myself, he loved me, and he would call as much as possible. All I could manage to say was I love you, and I handed him a letter I had written. And, that was it. Stan walked away ready to do his job he's been trained to do, and I drove away ready to do my job as his wife.
A couple hours later he called and said the plane was broken, and I had to pick him up. We did round #2 the next night. What an interesting 24 hours we had! It was a roller-coaster of emotions. All of this the past couple days reminded me again that life is tough, and we aren't promised an easy time; but we are promised if we call on the Lord, He will give us strength to endure the tough times. We both know He will be our source of strength.I'll try to keep everyone posted as I hear from him. He probably wont get to Kuwait until early Sunday morning with the 16 hour flight and the 7 hour time difference.
