It's been one year....today

Seems the time goes further and further between posts...but too much on my mind today not to jot it down, even if for only me to see!

One year ago today was an incredibly difficult day. We said so long to our oldest son at Hector Airport in Fargo, ND about 11:40am that day ~ as we watched him give the final wave after passing through security and re-claiming his bag and jacket, the final wave before he walked through the door and out of our sight did us all in. A year later, I still remember every little detail as if it was yesterday. Here is how it went that day, and the days leading up to it.

September 30th, 2010 Brooks signed with the North Dakota Air National Guard for a 6 year commitment. His training would be soon they said, little did we know it would drag on and on until he finally left on February 1st, 2011. The days leading up to his departure got harder and harder the closer Feb 1st came. Taking care of all the small details such as all the last paperwork at the Guard with Tina Sly, his recruiter, and Glenda, the gal that handled everything that Monday, the day before he left, made it all seem a little more real. The evening before he left we had his good buddies over for dinner....bbq chicken pizza, homemade by me of course, was Brooks' choice for his "last supper at home" so to speak. I recall him taking on a teeny tiny slight attitude that evening...as though he didn't care as much about his family as he did his friends. TOby and I talked about it after and both agreed, this is what Brooks does to "deal" with preparing to say goodbye to his family. Maybe it makes it easier for him ~ we imagine it does. Anyhow, his little brother was having a difficult time...as were his mom and dad. I remember giving him a goodnight hug before turning in that night...going to bed, and crying softly til I fell asleep. Upon opening my eyes the next morning, tears filled my ears almost instantly, realizing that the dreaded day had arrived. We got busy with breakfast, took some family pictures, cried a little, laughed a little, and were soon on our way out the door headed to the airport. Brooks rode with Toby and Aaron in the Ford Escape, while I rode with Lacey and Rylan in the G6, and John and Erik rode together. I took pics of each stop, from the check in counter, ride up the escelator, and a few of Brooks and his favorite little man, Rylan. Before we knew it, the time had come, and we said our final goodbyes and gave long, tight hugs. Erik took pics of the hugs for us so we had them to remember the moments with. I will never forget the feeling of emptiness...the horrible feeling that we were throwing our son to the wolves in a sense ~ but through it all, he held up so well. He is strong like his Grandma Jo we say =) After sneaking in one more hug, he said farewell and headed through security. We stood and watched every moment we could, before he picked up his bag and put his jacket back on, and waved a final goodbye, before heading through the door. Once we could no longer see him it hit like a ton of bricks. The tears literally poured out ~ and when I turned to see the little brother sobbing, and Brooks' buddies come over to hug and console him, we cried even harder. Heading for the car I think the tears may have froze on our cheeks. It was a negative 16 degrees below zero that day...we got in the vehicle and drove North of the airport, hoping to catch one last glimpse of him before they flew away. We waited and waited, and still no plane took off. Finally after getting a couple of text messages from Brooks, we knew the plane had not left yet and was delayed due to the bitter cold and ice. Toby finally had to get back to the office, so we headed for home, where he dropped Aaron and I off. Lots of tears were shed that day, and about 2:30 we got a text from Brooks stating his flight from Fargo to Denver was late, and because of that, he missed his connecting flight to San Antonio, TX. GREAT!! Now what....this was the first time he had flown, and of course was flying alone. The lobby was his resting place for the next 6-7 hours. Little did he know, the airport had a lounge for military. He could have been watching a big screen tv and laying down relaxing the whole day, when he ended up sitting in the airport waiting area the entire time! The nice thing about him being delayed was it gave us lots of time to text back and forth. All day long ~ and finally about 8:20 I received the last one before he finally boarded his flight to TX. Ready for bed...but unable to sleep until I knew he had arrived in TX, I sat on the floor in our room with the little space heater, until I received a text from him at 11:46pm, that said "just landed down in san antonio". Aaahhh, thank goodness he had finally arrived there. Now, hoping his TI's wouldn't be too angry about it! He called from the bus on the way out to the base. They were told this would be the last call they would get for quite awhile. He sounded good. Turned out the three guys that were waiting in the Fargo airport lobby, were also headed for Lackland AFB in San Antonio! They were on the same bus! Brooks was probably on the same flight that day as well. Relief and an empty broken heart all at the same time. It was time to try and get some sleep. I took some nyquil to help with the sleep...big mistake, as my cell phone rang that night at 3:56am. I was in such a deep sleep, I scrambled to find my glasses, dropped them on the floor by the side of the bed, finally found them, found a note pad and do you think I could find a pen if my life depended on it? NO! Only a dull lead pencil...and after writing the first line of his address, the lead broke! It was a comedy of errors....and he couldn't respond to my questions, as he was reading off a script. "Hello, this is Airman 1st Class Brooks Lommen, calling to let you know I have arrived safely, and to give you my new mailing address. Please gather a pen and paper, and please hurry. My training instructor is not a patient person." All I wanted to hear was that he was alright!!! He did sound good though...other than a little nervous. "please do NOT send packages. My training instructor HATES packages" Before I knew it, he had hung up the phone. That was the last I would hear from our son for awhile. More tears set in once again. Thank GOD he only has 44 days left before graduating from his 3rd destination at Camp Blanding in Starke, FL on March 16th. The day he drives into our driveway can't come soon enough! We miss you like crazy Brooks, and are soooo proud of you! =o)
Goodnight.