Roller Coasters

Saturday was my husband’s going-away party for his upcoming deployment. Friends and families came to wish him farewell. Of course I looked at it more as “See ya later” then “Good-bye”. I had a nice time. Our neighbors were here, my family came in from Michigan, Hubby’s family was here (most happen to live in the area) and friends from work and small-group all dropped by.

We had a Taco Bar with all of the fixings. My mom and I cooked up all the meat & rice the day before so the day of it was a matter of reheating it. We chopped, chopped, chopped the day of: tomatoes, onion, lettuce, peppers and more. We put cheese, sour cream and salsa in bowls. We had soft and hard shells available. It was a hit. When folks arrived I had many comments about what a nice & different idea tacos were.

Hubby’s family also brought in food. I never turn down help so when folks asked if they could bring in some food I was quick to say ‘sure’. It added to the variety and Hubby’s aunt’s fruit salad was a hit. Our siblings were in charge of sodas and we had plenty, plus a cooler of beer. I had all the sodas in coolers of ice on the deck. Made it comfortable to linger out there as guests found new friends & old to mingle with. In the kitchen we set out wine (red & white) & put some of the harder stuff behind the wine. We had all of the glassware sitting out by the wine.

The weather was perfect until about 7:00pm. So we spent the first three hours of the party on the back deck. When the rain started we headed in. No stress, we just went with the flow.

We put up some brown paper that is used to cover packages on a door with a basket of markers & everyone wrote a short message to Hubby; dubbed “Our Wall of Well Wishes”. I will send it to him or pack it in his gear depending on how much room he has. It is actually still hanging up and I love walking by it and looking at what folks wrote. The younger kids even drew a few pictures for him on the paper.

By 9pm most folks had headed home and the immediate family was left to do some quick cleanup. I was putting hot-peppers back in a tupperware container & must have gotten the juices on my hand. When I rubbed my eyes (a little tired, a little weepy) 20 minutes later they burned!

That was enough to put me over the edge. Sitting on the stairs I just broke. The party was wonderful, but the reason for the party had my head spinning. It’s that roller-coaster that I so desperately want to get off of. My mom walked around the corner and found me. Moms give great hugs. We sat on the stairs: me sobbing, and she just held me. I felt a little bit like a 13 year-old again, with a broken heart. She has always been there for me. She knows when to show up & when to just hang back. Thank God for Moms!

BTW, Hubby & I got away, just the two of us, on Monday & Tuesday after the party. That trip was definitely part of my ‘high’ on this deployment roller coaster! I’ll write more about that later.