Ben left active duty about a year and a half ago, with his last two years being on "shore duty." So our kids have never really had to know what it means to be a military child. In the past few months, however, they seem to have been making up for lost time. Ben has been attending several schools that have taken him to Mississippi and California for weeks at a time. And thanks to the time changes there have been pretty long stretches when the girls haven't even talked to their Daddy on the phone. It's been hard, and there have been plenty of rough days, but overall they have handled it as well as I expect them to and better.
Today held the ultimate test. Yesterday the girls saw their Daddy for the first time in two weeks, and were over the moon excited to have him home. He went off to work today with the promise of being home for dinner. That is until 9am, when he was informed he must return to Virginia Beach to complete some paperwork. He had to leave before either Ava or Jocelyn got home from school, and could be gone until as late as Friday.
I was terrified of how the girls would handle this news. They had finally gotten their dad back home, only to have him leave again. When I explained the situation, there was disappointment on the girls' faces, but they took the news like champs. And we had a GREAT evening. The girls played together, rolling balls to each other, dancing, and coloring. We skyped with Ben so the girls could at least see Ben on the computer and tell him about their days. There were no meltdowns, so uncontrollable sadness. These girls are incredible, taking whatever life (and these days the Navy) throws at them. They will not be military kids forever, but they have what it takes for however long it takes. And I love them for it.
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