The two younger children and I were able to drive up and see him off. His older brother, sister-in law and two nephews live in OK and were unable to come and since the in house engineer decided to go for his Master's Degree instead of buying a motorcycle he was stuck home doing schoolwork. So off the two youngers and I went...to Tennessee! Mind you this decision was made two days after I returned from Quilt Market and so I was completely unprepared for the journey but those are usually the best ones.
When we arrived Adam was already telling Michael who the boss was and it was not me,lol.
I had no idea how much STUFF was needed to go on deployment. When the in house engineer deployed I drove him to the squadron ( he was a Navy P-3 pilot) and off he went. There was nothing extra to do, it was all taken care of. I swear we must have spent 95% of our time in shops trying to locate all the things he needed to take with him. The worst part for me was the dogtags. It is funny when things become real in your brain, when reality takes a sledgehammer and gives you a solid WHACK and reminds you of what is really going on. He needed dogtags and for those of you not in the military, the purpose of dogtags is identify the deceased. There is one one a larger chain and then one on a smaller chain. The one on the smaller chain is a toe tag. This was my sledgehammer. I am sure the guy in the shop understood why I went from zero to bawl in less than 8 seconds. He is my baby...
After we had all the stuff we needed for THAT five seconds and I was able to snap out of my reality check, we had a small fender bender in the parking lot. It was so crazy! Did not even see the car and she did not see us! So we sat around goofing off until all the proper stuff was done. Adam even found a quilt pattern for me!!!
We spent so much time in the car doing errands that on Sunday Michael decided that we were going joy riding and we did. Through the back roads of Tennessee and Kentucky. We saw all kids of beautiful sites and some fun barn quilts too...even though these are not on barns :o) The one in the middle is my favorite!
Little Miss took full advantage of Adam's quilt and slept in every morning. She had been hanging out with Michael and staying up late so I did not say a word. She needed both the time with him and the extra sleep.
Michael did not have a sewing kit so I made sure that he had only the best to take with him!
The morning that he left there was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have even seen. I could not possibly take a photograph that could do it justice.
So, my son, my baby boy is off on deployment. I have to give BIG APPLAUSE to the airport for letting us have special passes to see him off at the gate, to Southwest Airlines for holding the plane a little longer so we could properly say goodbye ( my apologies to the passengers on the plane and my eternal gratitude), and to all of my dear sweet caring friends here for all of your support and well wishes.
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