A Hole In Our Whole

Every year, we do Thanksgiving with the Cruces on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Most years we don't give it much thought, but this year was different.  Scott and I both have very small families. Having a small, tight-knit family is amazing. I wouldn't change a thing, but when someone is missing, it definitely leaves a hole.  And this year especially... our whole had a hole. Because, while Valerie was putting the turkey in the oven  and while Andrea and Chloe were driving to Marshall and Valerie's  and while Scott and I were trying to wrangle our kids in to putting on clothes so we could actually be on time, Captain Brandon Heimericks was doing this...

Flying to Afghanistan 

I had prepped myself for this day.  

Knowing that the Cruces aren't much for emotional overloads, I knew that I wanted to stay as strong as everyone else. I knew that if his WIFE could stay strong, I certainly should be able to hold it together. 

Almost immediately after we arrived, Andrea handed me her iPad and had me read Brandon's new blog post.

Damnit.

I freaking lost it. 

Of course, everyone else laughed at me.

I love that we all have a mutual understanding that they won't be showing much emotion and that I will be a raging lunatic. It takes all of them to balance me out.

Again, I had prepped myself for this day. The day when it would become official that he is there. The day when our worries and fears would become real. The day that we would just have to trust and have faith that he is the best at what he does and that we would see him soon. That is a hard thing to do. I will just follow Andrea's lead. ;)

Our Thanksgiving was great despite Rico being away. We laughed and had fun. Andrea captured a ton of our day on video to send to Brandon. I hope that the pictures and video make him feel better because they are honest. The strong, beautiful wife that he sees is just that. And the smiling, laughing little girl in the video is just as she appears ... happy, healthy, perfect.

Valerie making the meal special with all of her touches. Everything was perfect! 

ahhh...the after dinner naps. The house is calm and quiet while everyone (except Valerie) soundly sleeps. It's wonderful. And, I haven't held him while he naps like this for a long, long time. 

This is what forgetting your coat at grandma's looks like! 

It was an amazing day. Despite the obvious hole. xoxo

And this last one's for you, Rico.