Serendipity...

I spend a lot of time on my blog chatting about things in my life, the kids and sometimes even ranting on my soap box...tonight I decided to devote some time to someone that means a lot to me, but I don't talk about enough...Brandon.
He is leaving soon...September 3rd. I feel so unprepared even though it feels like we have known for an eternity. So much about this deployment is harder for me than the past. Unlike in previous squadrons this deployment is totally different. Brandon will be heading to an AF base in the middle east, so relatively safe. He will not be going with a squadron, just himself. He is going to fill a job basically. The AF has AEF cycles...during that cylce you can be picked to fill a job for the AF...his name was in the bucket and he got picked. It doesn't have to be a job you are trained to do, just a job that needs to be done. Because the squadron here is a test unit, they don't deploy...that isn't their job. So he will go there to do a totally unrelated job, no flying...not a ton of fun for him. There is no support network here for me since no one else's husband is leaving too. It is just so different that how we have gone through it before. It feels scarier and a lot lonelier. But, we are strong and will get through it day by day. I worry about the kids. Zach is old enough to be aware, asks a lot of questions and will miss his dad terribly. Erin adores her dad and will just be sad not to have her person here. I will miss most watching him with the kids. Just to see their faces light up when he walks in the door at night, hear their laughter when they play and know they have him here to make life brighter and more fun.
Brandon and I are not perfect...not together or separately. I wish I could gush on and on about our amazing love story, but that isn't me. As Renee would say, "You aren't a gusher". Brandon and I met on a fluke. I was talked into going on a blind date to an ROTC function by my friend Joe...went and didn't have a good time (understatement). At the end of the night met a nice guy who asked who I came with...told him a guy whose name was a car (Ferrari) and I was having an awful time...needless to say that as his friend and roommate. Foot in mouth. We talked later that night and hit it off well. He said he would call, but never got my number. Days later he did call and asked me out. On our first date he brought a photo of me he had taken at Joe's Halloween party. We later discussed the number of times through college we had crossed paths and never really met...serendipity. When we did meet in November of 1998 it was the right time for us and it stuck. We dated a short time and were engaged in August of 1999...he gave me a great proposal that was a huge surprise...I love surprises! We were married in January 2000 in Vegas and again in March of 2000 in front of friends and family. We have never had honeymoon...we didn't even have a honeymoon period. We have had our ups and downs and several bumps in the road. We fight....we get upset with each other...we don't always see eye to eye...we push each other's buttons and often don't act as mature as we should. However...beneath it all we love each other.
Brandon is a very different person from me on a lot of levels...how we grew up and where we came from and the way we go about life. But we somehow met, connected and got each other. Brandon has always made me feel safe. I know I can count on him and he will always be there for me. He is my best friend. He is smart. He is loyal. He is kind. He is generous. He is funny. He is a genuinely good person. He is determined and motivated and a hard worker. He makes me laugh. He is a great dad. He has given me two amazing children and a life that I am glad to share with him.
I will miss him. I will miss telling him about my day and what the kids did. Sharing moments in our home as a family...having his love and support up close and there. I will miss his hugs and his smile. I will miss sharing jokes and laughs with him. I will even miss some of the super annoying things he does. I will miss him a lot...
No we aren't perfect, our love isn't perfect, our relationship isn't perfect and our life isn't...but I don't do perfect. I am glad we have had struggles and moments that were hard so we can appreciate the ones that are great. I don't say it enough or brag about him enough and I should do that more...I love you Brandon.
This is a picture taken of us in Tucson two years ago...I love this photo because we had a great time on that trip together and we are there in the place we met and fell in love...just a great memory...
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away."