Week with Shane

I just got back to Arkansas and my week visiting Shane has come to an end. I have enjoyed just being with him so much. He lives too far away from his parents! Just hearing his voice brings comfort to me. Yes, it's been too long since I last saw him. I guess I just need to visit him at least once every two months and stay a week each time. Shane will love to hear that!

My plane ride home was pretty special also. I had the honor of sitting next to a soldier from Ft. Hood. Karen, one of my military mom friends, tells me Ft. Hood is in Texas. He was at Bragg attending Jumpmaster School. He spent the entire time from Bragg to Charlotte talking about his grandfather. His grandfather calls him once a week. He said his grandfather called him when he started Jumpmaster School and told him "it makes absolutely no sense to jump out of a perfectly good airplane." He has served two tours in Iraq and has been in the Army six years. He has been in the states now 13 months. He isn't sure if he has to go back. Boy...he just looked so young. He was travelling with two other buddies and I offered my seat to one of the other buddies so they could sit together but they all declined. They said they were tired of each other anyway! As I left I handed him some money so that they could have a good meal before their next flight. There is nothing on the plane free anymore! Not even water. I purchased a 4 oz. coffee for $1. He was so appreciative and I thought he was going to cry. Not about the money....but that a stranger would want to do something for the sweet guys! Here's another soldier that I don't know that I will pray for.

It was a busy week. Shane picked me up at the airport on Monday night. Between shopping, going out to eat (let's see...we had Mexican, Italian, and Barbeque), running a few errands and still needing to work for my paying job, I have been busy. If it wasn't for the mortars going off in the background, it would be pretty darn quite around here. In fact, this morning (Saturday morning) I also heard bullets. I'm sure there is a term to describe it but it sounded like machine guns to me. How does a person sleep in this town?

I don't think I will ever get used to shopping and seeing soldiers everywhere. That's a strange site if you aren't used to living in an Army town. It's still a novelty to me. Wednesday morning I watched a young soldier load suitcases in a car. The lady that was with him gave him a big hug and kiss and then left in the car. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in their life. Was he leaving for war? I feel blessed every single day that my son made it home safe. Last night we ate close to a young mother and her young daughter. The daughter was sitting across the mother in a booth and she was crying. She eventually got up and sat beside her mom. The young mother ate her entire meal with one arm around the shoulders of the little girl. My mind was drifting again to what their background was. It is so hard to be military.

While I was here Shane got the sweetest letter from his cousin, Patrick, wishing him a Happy Veteran's Day. Patrick's class sent Shane letters twice while he was in Iraq. Everybody needs a Patrick in their family! He is so thoughtful and caring.

I'm going to miss the morning Mexican coffee and the nightime spiced chai tea. I'm going to miss just being in the same space as my son. I'm going to miss telling him what I think he should do about everything. I'm going to miss going out to eat, especially that! I'm going to miss seeing him. I'm not going to miss spending a week without a television. What is it with me and needing a tv???

Okay....I guess you would like to see a few pictures. Remember, I'm visiting Shane and pictures are hard to come by.

Here we are at a very nice Italian restaurant.


Shane putting his weight bench together. When he was working on it I remembered when he was in the 4th grade and he got a weight bench. Well, weight benches have sure changed! This thing is huge! It looks like something you see in a gym.


Off riding his bike!