tick tock

TED leaves in about two weeks.

That thought hangs in the air no matter where I go. The ticking clock. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do the time is getting closer. It is the same clock we have known before but it always seems different. I forget about it, pretend it isn't part of our world until the time comes when the ticking can not be ignored.

I was talking to a good friend, who's husband will be deploying with Mike, this morning and as we lamented the upcoming send off we both kept returning to the same point... more than anything we are just going to miss seeing and being with them. The rest will come. The kids will continue to grow, we will stay busy, we will survive sometimes even thrive but the missing piece will loom in the background.

That is the hardest part to explain to someone who has never gone through a deployment. The missing piece, the emptiness. The moments on the couch where he make fun of your choice of TV show. The smile that spreads across his face when the kids greet him after a day of work. Just having him here. Nothing really prepares you for it and no matter how many deployments you go through it never gets easier.


Nothing will stop that ticking clock so we will stay busy and enjoy every moment. I will store every smile, every hug, each moment we have until time runs out and a new clock takes it's place. The one that brings him back to us.

That clock is my favorite one of all.