In just a few short days, my oldest son, Ryan, will be on his way home. He has been away for a little over 3 years, serving in the United States Army. What a roller-coaster ride this "Army life" has been for our whole family.
Ryan decided to enlist in the summer of 2006, just as he was beginning his senior year in high school. He was adamant about joining and my husband and I offered our encouragement and support, even though the thought of him being deployed to a war zone was unthinkable.
Just a month after graduation, Ryan left for Basic Training. In October 2007, after receiving his infantry training at Ft. Benning, Georgia, he was posted to the 4th Infantry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas. The Brigade was later re-flagged as the 1st Cavalry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Regiment, 7th Battalion, and Ryan's orders to deploy to Iraq were soon secured. What was always in the back of my mind was becoming a reality. My son was going to war!
As I started mentally working my way through the certainty of his upcoming deployment, I went through so many different emotions---fear, pride, grief, dread, anger----they all showed themselves during this period of acceptance. My son was a soldier, and it was my job to love and support him through the long, dark days ahead.
Ryan left for Iraq on 10 June 2008. It was the beginning of a very long year----a year of jumping on the internet every morning to see what was going on where he was, hoping that there would be no news, because "no news is good news". It was a year of waking up in the middle of the night wondering what Ryan was doing at that very moment and then sending him my love across the continents and hoping he could feel it. It was a year of faithfully sending "care packages" every two weeks, packing each box a hundred times in a hundred different ways so I could squeeze as much as possible into every corner. It was a year of waiting for word from the FRG (Family Readiness Group) when I read in the news that the FOB (Forward Operating Base) had been mortared and there were casualties or that someone had been killed by an IED and information was pending notification of 'next of kin'. Oh, what a year it was!
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Ryan made it home, safe and sound, in June 2009. All the prayers, all the candles that were lighted on his behalf, all the loving thoughts that were soaked into the little bag of protection stones that Ryan kept in a pocket of his uniform, the Thor's hammer that he wore with his dog tags and the warrior spirit that it represented, and the good sense and training of both Ryan and his fellow soldiers, all worked together to carry him through. Along with a Muslim prayer cloth and prayer beads, Ryan brought back some amazing stories about his experiences in Iraq----some things that a mother would rather not know her son had to go through, some that were hard to hear.
And now, he's coming home. His contract is up, and, for now, he has decided he needs a break from the Army; a return to a "normal" life, to the area that he loves so much, college, work......LIFE!
What a journey this has been....for everyone. Although it is our sons and daughters who go about the day-to-day routine of Army life, as parents, we live it, too. In a different way, of course, but we live it.
*****During the course of Ryan's deployment, I connected with several other 2-7 Cav moms who were dealing with their son's first deployment to a combat zone, as well. Through emails and phone calls, these women became sources of encouragement, support, and hope, to me and I to them. Even though our sons are on their way out of the Army, I continue to keep in touch with them. Cynthia, Karen, and Vicki-----you ROCK!!!!
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