I finally have realized how important the people in my life are to me. Recently my mother’s best friend’s son was deployed to Afghanistan. I grew up with him and his sister. They’re like family to me. I’ve always been closer to his sister, but somehow in my memories of childhood, he sneaks his way in. Andrew is like my brother. Most of the time we are mad at each other, but that’s just us. Ever since the news of his deployment I have thought about what could happen, and the ‘what ifs’. Tonight we had dinner all together and at the end I had to say goodbye. I forced him to give me a hug. In that one second of a forced one-armed hug, I realized how scared I am for him. I guess what I am saying in this is, enjoy each moment with everyone in your life, you never know the future. My childhood would not have been the same without him. When I said goodbye, I said good luck. Good luck, or any other words for that matter could ever say how much I hope that he will be safe. He is leaving for the airport tomorrow. Now, I talk to God every night. I pray for everyone I know and care for or care for me to be safe, healthy and happy, and for anyone who needs this prayer to be okay. I barely make revisions to my usual prayer, but for now on I am making one revision; to keep Andrew safe and to let him know that everyone he knows is praying for him to be safe. I wish for a better world without fighting or wars, but this is life. And life is scary, frightening and no one knows what will happen next, but we are all certain that there are people in our lives that make it worth living.
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