Today, July 21, 2012 is the one-year anniversary of my dad leaving for Iraq.
This time last year I had said bye and wished him the best and realized that he wasn't going to be home anymore. Not for a while.
This time last year I was in Jordan, asleep, in my house.
Now, 365 days later, I'm living in a hotel. I'm living in America.
And in a couple of hours, my dad will be too.
Finally, after one year of not seeing him for more than a week at a time, he's coming home for good. He's staying.
We're ecstatic.
You can tell by the way that my mom's been counting off the days for us, and the way that my brother's been constantly talking about what we're going to do when he gets here.
I never realized how fast a segment of time could go by, or how slowly. Sometimes looking back at last summer seems like a century ago. Other times it seems like he left yesterday. But right now, I think my mom was right when she said that it would go by fast. Over all, it did.
You can't even begin to imagine how much relief I'm filled with right now. Although Iraq is better than it was a while ago, it's scary knowing that someone you love is over there. Becasue I watch the news and I'm on the internet, I hear things all the time. And it scares me. We can't call him whenever we want and see if he's alright, we can't send him on a plane to come visit whenever something bad happens. We just have to trust that he knows what he's doing and that he's safe.
When I heard that he'd landed in Amman, one of his stops on the way here, it was like a weight that I didn't know I'd been holding was lifted off my shoulders.
In a couple hours he'll be here in Colorado. He'll be here in his favorite place in the world and he'll be able to bike all he wants. And that'll be a lot. He'll be able to take me and Colin to sports games and help me with math homework- without using Skype. We'll all fall into a routine that involves him in it again.
Him coming home means that Colorado can really become home for us. It means that I'll finally accept that we've left Jordan and aren't going back. It means that Iraq can leave my head for a while.
He's coming home soon.
And we're getting excited.
This time last year I had said bye and wished him the best and realized that he wasn't going to be home anymore. Not for a while.
This time last year I was in Jordan, asleep, in my house.
Now, 365 days later, I'm living in a hotel. I'm living in America.
And in a couple of hours, my dad will be too.
Finally, after one year of not seeing him for more than a week at a time, he's coming home for good. He's staying.
We're ecstatic.
You can tell by the way that my mom's been counting off the days for us, and the way that my brother's been constantly talking about what we're going to do when he gets here.
I never realized how fast a segment of time could go by, or how slowly. Sometimes looking back at last summer seems like a century ago. Other times it seems like he left yesterday. But right now, I think my mom was right when she said that it would go by fast. Over all, it did.
You can't even begin to imagine how much relief I'm filled with right now. Although Iraq is better than it was a while ago, it's scary knowing that someone you love is over there. Becasue I watch the news and I'm on the internet, I hear things all the time. And it scares me. We can't call him whenever we want and see if he's alright, we can't send him on a plane to come visit whenever something bad happens. We just have to trust that he knows what he's doing and that he's safe.
When I heard that he'd landed in Amman, one of his stops on the way here, it was like a weight that I didn't know I'd been holding was lifted off my shoulders.
In a couple hours he'll be here in Colorado. He'll be here in his favorite place in the world and he'll be able to bike all he wants. And that'll be a lot. He'll be able to take me and Colin to sports games and help me with math homework- without using Skype. We'll all fall into a routine that involves him in it again.
Him coming home means that Colorado can really become home for us. It means that I'll finally accept that we've left Jordan and aren't going back. It means that Iraq can leave my head for a while.
He's coming home soon.
And we're getting excited.
You made it! Welcome home to your dad - and to you.
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