Bittersweet

Today I booked a beach condo for deployment week.

It was very bittersweet.

I mean beach condo (sweet!).... deployment (not as sweet).

Marine's roommates wife called me yesterday to inform me of a great deal she had found. Beach condos on base for $27 a night. Yes you read that right, walk-out-the-door-step-on-the-beach-condo. Twenty-seven dollars a night. Can't beat that.

So this morning I called to make a reservation. I was equipped with all of Marine's information.... or so I thought.

By the end of my conversation this lady had me questioning if I really even knew my own name. I had given her Marine's social, his company, his unit number, his barracks number and pretty much the promise of our first born child (or so it felt) and still she needed more.

"What's his room number?"

Crickets chirping.... "I can tell you where the room is, does that count?" I want to ask but bite my tongue and reply instead with, "I'm not sure."

"What's his work number?"

I have no clue. Work number? He doesn't have a work number. I mean come on it's not like he has an office job here. I falter, "I don't know...."

Heavy sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Well I'm gonna need that information."

I want to tell her that she has his social and everything else can she not possibly look it up but I'm a firm believer that you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar, so I keep my cool. I explain that he is away for training so it will be a few days before I can get the information.

Apparently my niceness has rubbed off and she says she will go ahead and book it for me but to just call back later with the additional information.

I plan on going up and spending five days with Marine before he deploys. We will have three days, just the two of us. It will be nice to sleep in, walk on the beach and just enjoy the last few days together. Then his mom and sister will join us a few days before the deploy date.

I look forward to seeing him and I look forward to the time together. But I know saying goodbye isn't going to be easy.

But I will hold my head high and I will smile and focus on the positive and worry about the rest later.

"It is a mistake to look to far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time."

~ Winston Churchill ~