Hail and Farewell

Military life is different than civilian life and that's a concept I didn't really get until we moved here and were submersed in military culture.  One of the aspects of that life is deployment.  I always felt bad for the people who got deployed and for their families.  But I have since learned that many, many soldiers/sailers/airmen/Marines want to be deployed, asked to be deployed and are upset when they are not deployed.  I'm not sure I fully understand the mentality, but it's an admirable, selfless attitude that benefits all of us.

Yes, deployments do happen and with frequency.  Since living here, six of our immediate neighbors have been deployed.  Sometimes for only three months, sometimes for a lot longer.  I say "only three months" but everyday a service member is gone it pulls at the heart strings of their family and friends, not to mention making life tough by making single parents out of moms and dads.

Yesterday, we welcomed back (hailed) one of our neighbors, Alicia, who has been in Afghanistan since September while saying goodbye (farewell) to Dima who's heading out for 3 months.  It's a bitter sweet part of being in the military...

Dima and Alicia

Don't we have a fancy setting? Love Emmy's face with the chocolate around it...

What a sunset!