Saying Goodbye

No, it's probably not what

you're thinking after reading this 

blog post's title.

Well actually, I don't know

what you might have been thinking

but 'Saying Goodbye' has nothing 

to do with saying goodbye to this blog, 

or the demise of anyone I know at this time.

OK.

What I wanted to write about

was the anticipation of saying goodbye

to someone for a short time (travel reasons)

or for longer periods of time 

such as the months Rick and I spent

apart during our Navy life.

Back during those Navy years

we said goodbye quite often.

More than I cared for,

but hey, that was our life

and you do get used to being separated.

Before he left the anxiety

 of his leaving hit hard. 

That's what I never got used to. 

It was made worse at one

duty station where everyone that 

was leaving had to take one 

weeks leave (vacation) 

 before flying out to their duty station.

That week of leave time was 

fraught with that awful 

anxiety of waiting

 for him to leave.

Those were bittersweet days

especially knowing that we

wouldn't hear from the guys 

for three months.  Not One Word.

At another sea duty time and station,

the guys would be gone 

to the Persian Gulf for rotations

of 4 months. This was back

when the mail took two weeks

to get to the Gulf with another 

two weeks wait to get an answer

back... if  they got the mail in 

a timely manner.

We limited our phone calls

to once a month, as they were 

prohibitively expensive.

This was when he was stationed

on a minesweeper in the Persian Gulf

right after the Iran/Iraq war.

They were clearing the Gulf

of mines on tiny little wooden ships.

 Anyway, 

things have changed for those

in the military now with 

e-mail, video conferencing,

texts, less expensive phone charges,

and who knows what else.

 All of that would have been

a wonder to us.

~~~ 

I got a bit side tracked there.

At some point the waiting 

for them to leave gets to you.

Sometimes angry words are said,

with the understanding that

their leaving is inevitable

and you actually would just

like the separation to happen

sooner than later, 

just to get the goodbye

over with.

That way you can 

to start counting down

the months,

the days,

the hours,

and finally the minutes

of when your loved one

will return.

So, what has brought all this up?

Rick was gone last week.

He was supposed to be gone a 

few weeks ago, but our family member's 

appointment at the VA hospital

in Portland got rescheduled,

and you guessed it...

I had already been bummed that

Rick was going to be gone for awhile.

Not nearly as bad as our Navy

years, but still...  I was going 

to be missing him tremendously.

 So then,

he was going to leave on Sunday

afternoon... and after holding back

on the tears while he packed the car,

it was time to say goodbye

and I managed it without tears.

And he left...

 Only to call again 

a few minutes later

to say that he wouldn't

be leaving till the next day.

After phoning family

to say he was on his way,

his plans were changed.

Our family member had a ride

from Brookings to Grants Pass

the next day

 that would save Rick a 

couple hundred miles.

~~~ 

So ...  we had a quiet Sunday

afternoon, and then had to say

Goodbye again the next morning.

uugghh.

Last week I kept busy

and accomplished quite a bit,

mostly outside work.

Phone calls and texts kept us 

in touch, so unlike our Navy days.

Our family member had good 

test results and his health has 

improved alot!!!

There won't be any more

goodbyes for now,

and hopefully

 not any for a long, long time.