With a kiss goodbye…

** I wrote this after Mac left but didn’t publish it right away because of obvious OPSEC reasons.**

So Mac is on his way to deployment #2. I wish I could say that I was the stoic wife, used to her husband leaving for days, weeks, months at a time. But I’m not. Mac’s flight was originally scheduled for Saturday night. We ran a few errands that morning, met my parents who drove down for dinner, then headed over to the airport. His parents and I stayed with him while he checked in and found out his flight was delayed. After a bit more waiting, the dreaded goodbye was looming. I tried to hold myself together as I watched him walk away and go through security. We got back home, and I had a slight breakdown after I got ready for bed. Then surprise of all surprises, Mac’s flight was cancelled, and he caught a cab back to Falls Church. So we wound up getting another night together, but we had to deal with goodbye again.

We spent Sunday morning savoring a few more hours together. I actually had orientation for work Sunday afternoon (obviously, I planned that before his flight was delayed). We talked about it and decided that I should go to work. To be honest, I was not going to be able to handle another trip to the airport. As hard as saying goodbye was the first time, the second time was exponentially worse. I mentioned to my new boss during the interview that he would be leaving, so she asked me how I was doing once I got there. Cue another sad attempt to hold back tears. I kept it together through work and until he called me from the airport. Nothing like trying to hold back sobs while talking to him. We hung up, his plane boarded, and he was off, just like that.

But he was considerate enough to leave two hampers of laundry for me to do.