Posted by
JuanPablo on Sunday, September 24, 2006 11:27:28 PM
It was a great summer.
After my last post I took some time off with my family and went to Virginia Beach. It was incredible. I'm more like an autumn-kind-of-guy, and summers had always seem too long, but this one went by so fast.
I have 3 kids now and spending time with them makes any day go faster than I remember in my single, children-less life. But there was something else. My younger brother (#4) became a Marine last year. I can't express in words how proud I am of him and his decision to change his life this way. He is the first person in my family to have joined military life.
We all knew that he was going to be deployed to Iraq sometime during this year's fall, and this is something that I've been trying to avoid. Even though things have calmed down against US Troops, there's always that thought that something might happen to him. Tonight he's leaving for 7-8 months (maybe more) and I know my life will change. I know the lives of my parents, brothers, cousins, etc will change too.
I don't want to sound too tragic. I have faith and I believe that it all will be done according to Our Lord's will. But I can't hide my fears as I think that the worst could happen to him. And I have to shake my head when I start thinking about tonight, and how many families that have lost someone in Iraq (or any war) have had this same moment: The immense feeling of being proud of him, the immense fear of the "what if"s.
Tonight my brother leaves, and God willing we will have him back soon.
Semper Fi my bro.