Last night I did a lot of thinking and some crying...for the family that lost a loved one. I cried for a lot of things...
Most of in this world (the military) know that our husbands take inherent risks doing their daily jobs...as the wife of a pilot I got the talk early on when he went to pilot training when we were newly weds...the awful talk about who we notify, what to do, etc. I have had Brandon deploy 4 times. I watch him leave the house and go out to fly an airplane many days of the year. While I know the risks associated with it all, I think at some point a lot of us in this life desensitize ourselves to it...we know it is there like the elephant in the room, but we dare not speak about it. We all live with the fear of the knock on the door, but we also can't live our daily lives waiting for the worst. We go on and act like it is a normal desk job, have a great day at work sweetie while you are flying 500 feet off the ground and going speeds that break the sound barrier. I think if we thought of that stuff we would all be insane...well more insane. I know for me it is easier to not dwell on it.
However yesterday made it painfully clear and real again why we can't ignore it all the time. It is there...the possibilities of tragedy. I started to assume the worst early in the day. CNN was reporting that the plane went down at 10 AM and by 12 they were saying the status of the pilot was unknown....same story at 3 when I left for Miss Gerri's...Sometimes no news isn't good news. In this case I knew if they (the AF) knew the pilot was okay they would report that, it is a good thing. If he wasn't they had to go through the notification process and couldn't release a statement until all next of kin on that list knew...my husband was allowed to call and tell me he was okay, he had been flying the C-17 that AM on a test mission...he couldn't say more than that.
I respect the privacy that AF shows in this time and how they huddle together and protect their own. While it seems secretive to the rest of the world, they are being careful to do the right things...
I admire Brandon's job and I respect what he does, but it does scare me more than I let myself think about...I hugged him a bit harder today than normal before he left...
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Cooley family...
3 comments:
I'm shouting an "amen" to this post. We didn't know the Cooley's either but the F22 community is small and we feel the loss even still. You're right, we'd go crazy if we dwelled on the "risks" of this job anymore than is minimally required. For all the silly things that the AF does, they do circle the wagons 'round in times of crisis. God forbid we should ever need that kind of support but it somewhat of a comfort to know it's there if we do. As the AF hymn says "Lord, guard and guide all those who fly"....
Well said...
How horrible. I don't watch the news, and hadn't heard about this. Your post was very touching and very real. Very honest. The scary thing is, you just never know.
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