Tough Goodbyes

Sunday was a tough day for the Harker family. We woke up early, got the car loaded, and headed to the airport in Nashville. Steve's departure date kept getting pushed back until, it was finally time for him to go.

For about two weeks, Kyle would ask Steve, "Dad are you going to shoot bad guys?" Where do kids get this stuff from? Of course, Steve and I have never talked about shooting bad guys and we were able to redirect Kyle by telling him that his daddy was leaving to help people. I guess that army brats know more than we think. After all, they live the life too. They go to the family days to learn what their parents do, they see the news (even when we try not to let them see), they see the canons and armored vehicles as they drive around post, and they deal with the deployments and training exercises too.

As Steve lugged his gigantic bag from the car, the boys each tried on his hat.

Of course, they helped daddy pull his bag for a little too. Then it became to much and a hand was the better option.

Then, there were the hugs. Owen was kinda oblivious, hugged his dad and waved goodbye as though Steve was leaving for a short training exercise or school.

Kyle, could tell something was different this time. He wiped his little eyes, as the tears welled up and rolled down his cheek, and hugged his daddy's neck tightly.

Then this sweet old lady (or should I say elderly?) came up and said that she would be happy to take a family picture before Steve left to go to the terminals. She was very kind and did a great job with our crazy camera, most people are freaked out by the lens and manual focus. She took two pictures and Steve just kept saying, "smile guys." He was right though, we should smile, this is a short trip and he will be back before we know it. Time will fly and soon our family will be all together again. We couldn't ask for more, Steve has safely made it to his destination and will very shorty begin his new job.