Wednesday, April 13, 2005

 

Coming Home

Via Toni at MyView http://viewfromtonka.blogspot.com/

One of the soldiers of the 2/108th, NY Army National Guard, returned home recently and shared his experience via the Wall Street Journal. Follow the link, it's an absolute must read.

Thank God, we have not lost anyone to injury or accident, and I can only imagine how that will feel, if experience it we must. But I do know how SSG Moore feels about his sons, and being home at peace and not at war.

A small excerpt:
I was complete again. I had my boys. And there have never been more perfect words spoken to me than "I love you, Dad."

It may take my wife and children a long time to realize that while I look the same, I am not the same person who said goodbye to them many months ago. I will never be the same again--thankfully so.

Each day now I am acutely aware of what makes me happy, and what it is I do that makes other people happy. Walking point through the volatile streets in Iraq helped me see this much more clearly, and I will make every effort to preserve that awareness for the rest of my days.
Since I've left my family, I've come to realize that I have been very hard on my son. Little Manly and my daughters are the best gifts God ever gave me, along with my marriage to Mrs. Dadmanly in covenant with God.

As some of you may have read here previously, I wasted some valuable time I could have spent encouraging, building up, and frankly just sharing the joy of my son. I resolve to make a difference with him when I return.

I heard a week or so back that Little Manly's new baseball coaches were pretty serious, and not as warm to the boys as our old coach. Little Manly wasn't sure he wanted to keep going (neither was Mrs. Dadmanly), but he agreed to keep trying for a while.

What a difference a week can make. Mrs. Dadmanly reports the coaches are still tough, and Little Manly reports being a "little scared," but that Little Manly is making great plays on the field (he's a southpaw pitcher at 9). When asked now if he wants to continue, he says "Oh, yeah!"

I ache to watch his games; I want to be there when he suffers disappointment. I want to encourage him when he loses hope, I want to challenge him when he can stand tall. I miss my Little Manly, but I know that he is in 4 good hands.

Mrs. Dadmanly's, and the Lord's.





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