Kevin went back to Germany in April, and the girls and I stayed in Illinois. We counted down the days until we would be back together! Military separations are hard and often it is missing the important days, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries.
Kevin and I made a plan to reunite two different times during our five months apart, once in June and once again in August. The time apart was very difficult at the beginning, it is always a struggle to get everyone settled into a routine. The girls struggled with being alone, especially at night. So momma had a lot of nights with two little girls in her bed. My hardest part of the separation is knowing there is no break. No tag-teaming, “I need a minute alone”, it is solo parenting and it is exhausting!
I booked us a vacation the middle of June in Charleston, South Carolina as our first solo parent time. We were so excited about it. But, he had to come home first! The days leading up to his arrival were HARD. I just kept thinking “is it Monday yet?” The girls made a countdown chain for when he arrived. Finally, we woke up that special Monday morning and it was time to get in the car to drive to the airport!
Of course it was raining and chilly that June morning, but that didn’t dampen our excitement. We got to the airport right about the time he was landing and went inside to wait! His phone wasn’t working (he forgot to activate it) so I was waiting impatiently having no idea where he was or when he would be coming through the doors.
Finally he got through customs and I hear the cries of “DADDY!” as he rounded the corner and the girls saw him. Allie ran to him first, but Rae wasn’t far behind. There were quite a few people staring and watching us, but it didn’t matter.
I have only seen my husband cry a few times, not at our wedding or the birth of our kids, so I was a little bit shocked to see him tear up holding his girls for the first time in several months. It was a special moment and we were so happy to have our daddy home! He stayed a few weeks and then he went back to Germany. Our reunion in August wasn’t as special, he was a curbside pickup- but both times we were all velcroed to dad’s side not wanting him to leave us.
As I sit here, back home in Germany, I am thankful we don’t have anymore scheduled separations for awhile. I know we always manage to get through them just fine, but it is HARD.
