Another Good-bye

I am so tired of good-byes!! Another marathon week for us. We got back yesterday afternoon from our trip to take Kevin to Atlanta to catch his flight to Korea. If we don't get back into the truck for another FIVE months, that will be fine with me!!! UGH! I am also so very tired of riding/driving.

We left Sunday afternoon to go to my folks' as they graciously lent us their car for the trip to Atlanta (much better on fuel mileage and more comfortable.) Bright and early Monday morning we left Berlin, MD for the trip to Atlanta. It was a decent trip, just very looooooooooonnnngggg.

We got to Randy's sister, Missy's, house around 9:15 that night. Missy lives about 45 minutes north of the airport and wanted us to stay with her and the kids. Since Kevin hadn't seen them for quite a while, this was a great invitation. We no sooner got into the house, when Kevin and our niece, Tara, were back out the door to go to a party with Tara's friends. Needless to say, all Randy & I did was flop on the couch. Of course, Kevin had slept off and on all the way down, so he was ready to rock and roll! :)

Tuesday was spent with the family and seeing their new house they'll be moving into next week. Kevin & Tara went out again that night. We cautioned him that we had to be up at 3:30 am - yes, AM - in order to be at the airport by 5:00am. He said he wasn't planning to sleep anyway. And actually, I didn't get much sleep, either. Kev had gotten in around 1am and I ended up snuggling with him and watching TV until 3:30 when we needed to get ready to go. I knew I was gonna be tired later, but it was well worth it. I got uninterrupted time with my baby boy. It was very special; reminded me of when he was little and he would lay with me while we watched TV. He'll always be my baby.

We got to the airport in plenty of time to check his bags for his 7:48am flight to San Francisco. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be 7:48 - it was delayed until 10:20!! Not a problem. There were at least 10 other young soldiers there already, so Kev had lots of company.

We said good-bye and hugged very tightly and left him at 5:40am. No tears - really - no tears. Kevin told me on the way to airport that I wasn't allowed to cry; there was no reason, he said. And he was so excited, it was hard to be sad.

We got back to my folks' house around 7pm Wednesday night. What a frantic three days. We were exhausted. It was beginning to sink into my brain that my son was halfway around the world!! So far away . . .

Thursday morning Sara called and let us know Kevin had called her that morning to let her know he was doing great. He was in a hotel room overlooking Seoul and it was beautiful. Since then, we've gotten a couple of e-mails and in every one of them he is so upbeat. Tells us we all need to go to Korea before we die.

We're hoping that life will settle down now that Kevin-mania is over. It'll probably be a little too quiet at first, but I think we'll get used to it quickly. It's a wonderful feeling to know that your wayward child is growing up and becoming the person you prayed he would be.

That's it for now. I'll probably only be posting about once a week or so now. As you think of Kevin, please pray for his continued safety as well as that of all of our Armed Forces. Thanks for your friendship and love. Please keep in touch.

Until the next time . . .