There's Something About Mary

Above: Brother Bear channels Yoko Ono

Oh… guess what? Brother bear is back from Afghanistan for his R&R. It just started but it’s already over. Today we went out and stuffed our faces with burgers and fries. I mean what else are you going to eat when you’re in America? He’ll be spending the rest of his time home going to visit old coworkers and hanging out with his Fraternity brothers. As much as I would like to hang out with him all the time - I totally get it. 

It was nice having the chance to catch up on EVERYTHING that he missed the past 7 months of deployment. I was so happy and sad at the same time! Happy that he is finally home, but sad because I could tell he had been through so much. He was so jet lagged and I could just see how tired he was. His face was sun burnt from all those days spent outside in the desert. His hands were dry and wrinkly, a side effect of working so so hard. War does a number on you. 

I tried to keep the mood light, but there were moments where he told me what he had been through. I can’t talk too much about what he does over there, but I know that is physically so demanding and though he’s up for the task - day to day, it’s VERY difficult. I know he never wants to scare me so he never goes into detail when telling me stories, but I think I can always come to that conclusion on my own in regards to how dangerous it gets at times. He told me how rough it was when they lost someone in battle - how tense things were in the aftermath. He talks about how often trucks get bombed and tries to play it off like it’s not a big deal by following up and saying, “but I’ll be okay.” You just can’t help but worry. 

The bad news is that he will be headed back overseas pretty soon, but the good news is, his deployment may be over soon. I hope it is because he’s been gone for almost a year. I told him to just be safe and come back soon because the boys are planning a trip to Vegas for him when he gets home.