One tough day...

Today was the day! Brady was sworn in and left for basic training today. It was a bit insane. To start the day Brady had to be down at the recruitment office by 8:30am. We had packed up everything he needed the day before so we all got up early and headed out. Once they started the paperwork we found out that Brady and one other recruit had to be re-finger printed. Where the first ones went, no one knew. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but there were no finger print cards in the office as well as no ink. The Army office upstairs didn't have any either. Brady couldn't leave for Basic without them and so it was looking like he would have to go to Salt Lake to be printed and then on to Texas for Basic. He kept signing paper work, and I took the girls over to the Target that was next door to let them run around a bit. Brady was supposed to be sworn in at 10 am and pretty soon a bunch of family started showing up for all the recruits. Brady called to say that there was another problem. Normally an email is sent out to all available officers looking for volunteers to swear in new recruits. The email was sent, but during the holiday rush no one checked to see if anyone had signed up. No one had! We got back to the office and everyone started making phone calls to anyone that was qualified to do it. My Uncle Les, a retired Navy officer, could have done it but he was in Reno. There were other calls made but no one was picking up. Thankfully, my father-in-law got a call through to Billy McCoy, a friend of his, who was able to come down and swear in all four recruits. It was wonderful! Billy McCoy is a retired Two Star General and I am sure that the service was better for having him. He gave them some wonderful advice and you could tell that he truly enjoyed the opportunity. Plus he totally save the day for the recruits and all the family that had gathered to see them entered into service. After that we waited around to possibly get the finger printing done and they finally found some cards and sent the secretary down to Office Depot for an ink pad. We finally left the office at Noon and headed to In and Out for some lunch. Then it was off to the Airport to catch Brady's flight to San Antonio, Texas.

I wasn't anticipating how emotional I was. Here I am watching Brady hug the girls, whispering last minute love to them and seeing how hard it was for him to let them go. I hugged him twice and told him I loved him. Then he had to go. I felt like a huge piece of my heart was walking away and I am sure that he felt the same way. Rory chose that moment to start hollering "Bye Daddy!" and waving. She continued that all the way out to the car. As we were loading up Cady asked if we could get some ice cream and then come back and pick up daddy. We had been trying to explain, the best we could, that Brady would be gone for a LONG time, but Cady has no concept of that. I told her that we could get ice cream, but that daddy would be gone for a long time so we couldn't pick him up after that. She got quiet and I got Rory buckled in. When I looked up again Cady was crying. I asked her why she was crying she said, "Cause daddy isn't coming back." I unbuckled her and just held her for a bit and then explained that daddy was coming back, but not for lots of days. I told her we could make a chart and she could mark the days off until we would see him again at his graduation from basic training. That calmed her down. I was still a wreck. It didn't help that, for the rest of the day, every time the girls saw a plane they would holler out, "Bye Daddy! Come home soon!" Well Cady did, Rory would just yell "Bye" or "Daddy" which was just as bad.

I knew this would be hard. I knew it. But knowing something and living it are two completely different things. It is crazy, but I can say that I was 100% prepared for today and at the same time I wasn't prepared at all. I miss him so much right now, and it hasn't even been a day. And I know that a huge part of it is knowing that he isn't coming home. That everyday the girls will ask when daddy will be home and I will have to explain again where he is and why he is there. That every time they ask I will remember he is gone. That our lives are changing completely and I have no clue how, just when.

A good friend told me that it doesn't get better with time, but that you get used to it. I really hope so because this spontaneous crying really isn't like me at all.

I do need to say that I am so very grateful that I get to be here surrounded by family and friends. I have such a great support system here and I couldn't be more thankful. I have had so many people call or text just to check on me today and I can't tell you how much that means to me. All you wonderful people with kind words and advice on Facebook are AWESOME. Really. I am also thankful for two beautiful little girls who will keep me very busy for the next five months. Most of all though I am thankful for the gospel and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Brady and I have known for a long time now that this is the path that we are supposed to be on. We knew that it would be hard and extremely challenging for both of us, not to mention our children. We knew that there was a possibility of Rory not remembering much of Brady when we finally got to see him again. We knew that there was a possibility that Cadence would suffer emotionally from his loss in our home. We knew that this could possibly be very difficult on our extremely tranquil marriage. But I have come to learn that with the Spirit of the Lord in our lives, homes, and hearts, that all these possibilities could strengthen us as well. I know that because Brady and I are both on the same page temporally and spiritually that the Lord will make our family strong and that this difficult time our lives will be a beautiful time, a happy time, and a learning time. I am so thankful for the technology that will allow us to see and hear Brady after Basic is over. I am so thankful for prayer and the comfort that my Heavenly Father gives to me every time I need Him. I feel so very blessed!

I added some pictures of Brady with the girls. I will post our family one with the news letter soon. I hope that everyone had an Amazing Christmas and I look forward to seeing those who are coming down for the Wilson New Year get together on Friday! :o)