Just Don't Speak Please

This post may offend some & I am not even a little bit sorry- so here we go. You may mean well when you are talking to me &  my kids about Paul's up coming deployment by saying " This deployment isn't so bad compared to the last. No worries, he will be on a huge secure FOB. (Forward Operating Base).".

At this particular point in my pre-deployment life I neither want to hear or believe it! We just laid to rest a close friend who was also suppose to be in a "safe zone". So just DON'T SPEAK if that is the only thing you can think of to say to us. Just hug us & walk away, I would rather have a hug  then hear those words one more time from anyone.

Unless it is you going through a deployment or have been through a deployment you really have no idea the worry that comes along with the deployment.Your mind plays tricks on you & it's hard to turn the worry off. You can't even begin to compare a two day business trip or a week long training period with a whole year of your loved one in a War zone. So please don't try. I will smile most days & just walk away with out saying a word. But on any given day I could possibly lose it & snap - saying words I really don't want to say to you. If you want to help, give us all a hug & be honest tell us you have no idea how hard it is going to be. Be sincere when you offer to help us & check in on us while Paul is gone. I can always tell the people who mean it when they say it & the folks who are just saying it to be nice but hope we never call.

I love your support & could have never made it through the past ten years with out all the love.But you must understand to the best of your ability - Paul is going into a War zone, he will wear a flak vest, he will carry a gun 24/7, I will not think he is safe until he is back home in my arms where he belongs- period end of story!