Chapter 2: Food

If you missed chapter one you can catch up here.

Chapter 2: Food

The first several days at home revolved mostly around food.  My friends will not be surprised that I have dedicated an entire chapter to such an important topic.  I’d basically been eating the same seven meals week after week for eight months.  On the list of things I was excited about experiencing while I was home, there was Emily, baby, and food.  I’m not hard to please.  So we picked some of our favorite restaurants and got to share a few meals with some close friends.  The first night was just the two of us at Luigi’s, one of our favorite Italian places, with a very romantic atmosphere.  If you live nearby, try the seafood risotto. 

Wednesday night was The Cheesecake Factory with our friends Jeff & Kristie, a meal we kicked off by ordering four appetizers.  They got one wrong, which we realized immediately - after we finished eating it.  When I mentioned it to the waiter, they brought out the right dish, so five apps.  Can you think of a better way to start dinner?  At this point I didn’t think we’d finish, but Emily was eating for two, and they don’t make food like this in Afghanistan.  Though, I did get my cheesecake to go.  Keylime pie makes a delicious breakfast the next morning.  Plus, lime is fruit, so... health food really. 

Thursday was Carraba’s, one of my favorite Italian franchises, after Olive Garden, naturally.  Lauren and Carson, friends from Emily’s undergrad days who also found themselves back in NC, joined us.  After a long wait and many prayers, they finally have a baby girl on the way, so we wanted to celebrate that with them.  Congratulations guys! 

Friday was our first road trip in the Swagger Wagon.  Some great friends, Clay and Stephanie, had their entire extended family at Holden Beach for a week, so we joined them for their last day.  Yes, Emily was like ten months pregnant, but we were only two hours away and we got the green light from our midwife.  After a wonderful spaghetti dinner, I honed my picture making skills by doing some family portraits for their whole clan.  I finished with some shots of Emily on the water before we hit the road.  Thanks for sharing your vacation with us guys.  Your pics are ready!

[Check out some pics of the beach and Emily pregnant here.]

The weekend came with more relaxing at home, Church on Sunday, and lunch at Nonna’s, one of our favorite local Italian places (I'm just now noticing a theme here). 

Monday brought more fun adventures.  Emily had made a great friend in her birthing class, Ashley, and her husband David.  Ashley had considered getting some maternity photos done, but she was a little hesitant and didn’t really know how to get that ball rolling.  Emily happened to know a great photographer with a spanking new camera that he was itching to use.  I saw it as a great chance to get some practice and scout some locations because I still wanted to do a full photo session with Emily.  So the four of us spent the afternoon in downtown Fayetteville, moving from the train station, to a crumbling brick wall, and finished up in a rose garden, complete with a fountain and a bridge.  I’d never even thought about posing a pregnant woman, or a couple, but Ashley and David were awesome, and I think they were very happy with the photos.  Emily, even pregnant, was an incredible assistant.  We all had a great time until the mosquitoes showed up.  We finished off that night at Samurai for hibachi and sushi.  Fantastic time.

Before we knew it, an entire week had disappeared from our calendar.  Luckily we’d already eaten enough food for two weeks.  And the most exciting adventure was still yet to come!  More to follow in chapter three...

15 Days - Chapter 1

Not long ago I got to leave the sandbox and make the journey around the world to spend two weeks with my wife.  I’m back in Afghanistan now, but having recently celebrated Father’s Day for the first time as an actual father, I wanted to capture what that experience was like for me.  So, when I got back to FOB Shank, I started writing.  By the time I’d gotten to ten pages I realized this wasn’t all going to fit very neatly into one blog post.  So I decided to divide things up into chapters.  I’ll probably post one short chapter per week for the next several weeks.  I invite you all to follow along, and share this blog with anyone who might care about what happened on my summer vacation.  With that, I give you…

15 Days: A Birth Story

Preface

Having left North Carolina for Afghanistan exactly eight months before, to the day, on May 22^nd I landed in Fayetteville for two weeks off duty.  The Army calls it “R&R”, or “Rest and Recuperation”, but they must have named if for people who don’t have pregnant wives or newborns at home.  After 15 whole days at home, on Saturday June 9^th, I found myself back in Afghanistan for what will hopefully be the last time.  What most of you are probably interested in is everything that happened in between.  We’ll get there, but I want to say a quick Thank-You. 

For the past couple of months, Emily and I have felt so cared for, prayed for, and loved by people all over who have been tracking with us, each of them curious to know how we were doing.  We want to thank each of you, not only for your kindness, but also for your patience.  Many of our close friends, and even family members, have gone without much information about what’s been happening at our house.  Most of you probably haven’t yet heard the whole story of how baby Jack came into the world.  We’re very grateful for everyone who was so respectful of the few precious moments that we got spend as a family.  Out of 365 days on this deployment, Emily and I got to see each other for 15.  In an average year, most couples don’t know what it’s like to spend 15 days apart, let alone to have only 15 days together.  As much as we wanted to stay in touch with every person we know and love, every minute on the phone, or email written, or visit to someone’s house, is time that comes out of our 15 day bank.  For that reason, we chose not to spend much time doing anything but being together.  We hope no one feels terribly left out or slighted in any way.  There were so many people with whom we truly wanted to spend time, and have meals, and do fun things.  While we did get to do some of that, we simply had to prioritize our time together as a family, especially after Jack showed up.  In the coming weeks, as Emily gets stronger, she’ll be out more and more.  And in less than three months I’ll be home, and I look forward to making up for the year I missed, and getting to spend time with all my friends and family again.  Thank you all for understanding.  

Chapter 1: The Reunion

After a three-day journey that took me through six cities in four different countries, my last flight landed in Fayetteville on Tuesday afternoon, May 22^nd.  As I stepped off the jetway and into the terminal I instantly felt the clock running, as though an hourglass had been upturned and I feared that for two weeks that would consume my thoughts.  While that did happen to some extent, especially toward the end, that wasn’t what I was thinking about when I came around the corner and saw Emily for the first time.  “You really are pregnant!”  It was an odd sensation.  The last time I saw her she looked very different.  Now, standing there just on the other side of the security checkpoint waiting, she looked suspiciously like she was hoping the TSA agents wouldn’t notice she was trying to smuggle a beach-ball out of the country.  She laughed and we hugged.  There’s so much happening in a moment like that; it’s difficult to put into words.  Every isolated emotion that we had felt as individuals over the past eight months seemed to converge just as we connected.  All the happiness and sadness, the longing, the loneliness, excitement, disappointment, nervousness, and relief, all bubble to the surface, tangled, impossible to sort out.  It had us both in tears.  I don’t know how long we stood there before we finally headed out to the new minivan.  That was the beginning of what would be the longest, and shortest, two weeks of my life.  To be continued…

Note: A special thank you goes to Emily’s grandparents on her father’s side.  Both of them passed on just this year.  Not being home when they died reminds me of the sacrifices troops are constantly making to be deployed, but our family will be comfortable and safe on the road for years to come because of the beautiful Toyota Sienna they left behind.  We would give it up today if we could have them back, but it will be a constant reminder of their generosity and love for us, and for the great-grandson they never got to meet.  Thank you Nana and Deac.