A week from today..

My son left 13 years ago for the Air Force. He has had a wonderful career and visited home fairly regularly. But I am a mom. Above all. With a heart that craves my children in close proximity. Maybe it makes me weird, but I don't care. My son is moving home. I am ecstatic. The bedroom is cleared out. Ready for him to settle in. Now, in my heart, I know he is moving home very temporarily, but I intend to take advantage of this tiny window of opportunity. I intend to remind him how precious he is to me. How proud of him I am and always have been.
I am looking forward to cooking for him and doing little things. Oh, I know it will get old and that we'll have some trials. But please bear with me while I take advantage of this time. For the past thirteen years I have wept as he was deployed to Saudi Arabia and I didn't hear from him for months. I have cried hidden tears on Christmases and Thanksgivings while the family gathered and he was somewhere else and unable to come home. The sadness of not seeing my granddaughter until she was about 6 months old because they were in Alaska at the time. Yes, he is going to have some rough times. His wife left in January and a huge part of his getting out of the military is to be with family again. But I am here, with a mother's heart, waiting and loving. Six more days. And a few hours...My firstborn...home finally. Thank You Father.