Saying Good-Bye

Saying good-bye has to be the hardest part about being a military family. I haven't really been a military wife for too terribly long, but we've already had our fair share of good-byes. Unfortunately, I think this will be our hardest yet (at least in terms of moving to a different place). We've had movers at our house all week, and this morning as I look around the living room it doesn't look like my home any longer. It's full of boxes, there are no paintings on the wall, no welcome home feeling, just a cold, empty room. It's eerie how a house full of boxes can easily change from our house to just some random place we are staying in until the movers come and pick-up everything on Tuesday.

So we're having to say good-bye to our house, our beautiful neighborhood, our sweet neighbors, and worst of all, our cat. Tim and I took Tiger to the airport this morning at 5am. We left the house at 4am, and no one was in a good mood, especially Tiger. We attempted to give him some children's benadryl to calm his nerves, and I'm pretty certain it only made it worse. Not only did he act as if he were dying after we dropped a few dots on his tongue, but he actually started foaming at the mouth for about an hour after the medication was given. It was a nightmare, and I'm pretty sure we made it a thousand times worse; instead of calming his nerves, we just added to the terrible situation.

Having to say good-bye to an animal really shouldn't be that hard. It's just an animal, not a person, not a child, not some long lost friend you'll never get to see again, it's just an animal. But surprisingly enough, it's extremely hard. We brought him to the airplane cargo warehouse, and the guy at the front desk, although attempting to look sympathetic, after checking Tiger in, brought him to the outside portion of the warehouse where it was like 40 degrees and left him outside to wait an hour before someone would be by to pick him up. And when I asked if Tiger could stay inside until that time, he looked at me, laughed, and said "No". It was a rough morning.

We're saying good-bye to our house, our cat (at least for the next two & 1/2 months), our church, our family, and of course all of our PT friends. And as surprising as it is to me, i'm actually sad, I mean really sad. San Antonio has been great, the Army-Baylor PT program has been incredible, my Seminary and church have been unbelievable; every place we've encountered here we've made life-long friends and it's going to be very hard, and very sad, to say good-bye.

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE!!!

Tim graduated with his Doctorate of Physical Therapy on Thursday March 26th from the US Army-Baylor Program at Ft. Sam Houston. We are all so proud of Tim and all of his accomplishments! It's amazing to me to look back on this man's life, his very short life at that (only 28 yrs old), and see all of his amazing accomplishments. West Point, Electrical Engineer degree, graduated with top honors, Ranger School, Airborne School, lead an infantry in Iraq, and helped build an orphanage in Afghanistan, and then applied to a program that he was completely not qualified to attend, no biology classes, no anatomy and physiology, no idea about the human body or any type of medical information, and yet was still accepted. I'm talking about amazing stuff here, things I never imagined one human being could accomplish, especially not in the span of 28 years, and yet Tim has accomplished them, and least to say, I am very proud of him. But the thing that is most impressive about Tim, is that you would never know he had accomplished any of these things, because he is so extremely humble. And not just one of those, oh, i'm so humble, everyone look at me, no he is genuinely humble, and gives all the glory to God for every accomplishment he has ever achieved, which is truly a great accomplishment.

So cheers to you Tim!! I know God has great plans for you, and I know He will continue to use you to touch the lives of many soldiers and families who desperately need God's love and saving grace. We are all so proud of you!

Our family at the Wed. night celebration dinner:


Tim, Joe, and Cyrus


Our first friends in the program...I would have been lost without being able to rant to Alyssa about OBC!


Our good friend from church, Charles and Tim:


Us at breakfast:


The whole family at graduation:


Uncle Bill and Aunt Terry, they have always been here for us, and we'll miss them a ton! Thanks for coming to every important event in my, and now Tim's, life!
We love you!!


Dave and Amy, our good friends that we'll miss a ton, but hopefully see in Feb 2010!!

That Good Ole' Baylor Line:


All the girlfriends i'm going to miss: