And So The Adventure Begins

Tuesday, Octber 23rd, 2007 was a difficult day.

It was the last time I would wake up in my own bed for a year. It was the first time I would have to leave my family for such a long period. No fun, I promise, but I didn't expect it would be.

It wasn't hard waking up, since in order to actually wake up, you first must be asleep, and that night I didn't get much. My mind was going 1000 mph, albeit in neutral. So many unknowns and questions yet to be answered, but at that point there was nothing I could do about it. I was along for the ride, and we'd all figure things out as we went. I think it's commonly referred to as jumping in feet first... here we go.

The flight to Fort Rucker was unusually pleasant and uneventful. I arrived nearly on time, and all of my bags did as well. Almost unheard of for Delta in my experience.

I got to my room at Fort Rucker at about 11pm, and 8am came way too early. Wednesday was spent doing paperwork and going to classes. Typical Army stuff. Once all that was complete, I had some time to go to the PX (Military version of Wal Mart) and do some last minute shopping. I bought a digital camera and a big backpack. I also decided to treat myself to a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich rather than eat at the mess hall. I figured I had the next year to learn to like mess hall food.

Thursday was pretty much a carbon copy of Wednesday, just with different boring classes. Don't ask me which ones, I can't remember. Thats how educational they were.

Friday I actually got to take the airplane out and knock the dust and cobwebs out of my head for an hour or two.

Saturday morning rolled around, and we all piled into the van for the 3 hour ride to Fort Benning, GA, where we'd spend the next week getting "educated", poked, and prodded. I didn't really care about that. Jamie and Jaislyn were coming to GA on Oct 30th, Mom, Dad and Shannon were coming on the 31st, and Mike, Cindy and Tyler were coming down on Nov 2nd. Thats what I was focused on and looking forward to.

With a Little Help From My Freinds

Wow.

It is said that the truest measure of ones' worth lies in the quality and quantity of his friends. I guess that makes me pretty special. I wouldn't have thought so if you'd asked me, but the night of October 20th changed my mind, and humbled me in a way I'd never been before.

As I mentioned earlier, my last week at home was filled with various and assorted events and plans. Thursday the 18th, we went to dinner with Spicy Grandma, and she mentioned that she had a "Special Guest" coming to dinner on Saturday, and that I needed to wear a shirt and tie to dinner, but left it at that. Ok.

Saturday morning, we decided to head out to Schnepf Farms to see their famous corn maze. As I cannot resist pushing buttons at times, I decided to see what kind of information I could get out of Jamie regarding our "Mystery Guest". She wouldn't budge. I thought I had it figured out just the same tho. I was almost certain that Shannon was the guest in question. She'd tried to come out a few weeks earlier, but couldn't find a decent plane fare. I thought she'd stumbled upon a cheap ticket and just decided to come out at the last minute. Normally I can read these types of things pretty well, but this time I wasn't even close.

The plan was for us to arrive at Spicy's (Jamie's Mom, Chris...Jaislyn calls her "Spicy Grandma") house at 6pm to pick her and Mystery Guest up to go to Houston's Steakhouse for my"Farewell Dinner". I was a bit suspicious of all the Fort Knox-like secrecy regarding this dinner, so I had my guard up and my feelers out. I did notice that someone down the street must have been having a party due to the number of cars, but didn't think anything of it otherwise. Jamie and Jaislyn ran into the house as soon as we pulled up, and I brought up the rear. I knew something was up when I walked in and saw the kitchen table set with a tablecloth and plasticware. A split second later, when I looked into the living room, I saw our "Mystery Guest"... or should I say, ALL of our "Mystery Guests".

I don't dare attempt to name everyone who was there for fear of leaving someone out, but there were dozens of friends and family members there, many of whom drove or flew in from out of town just to see me off. I was floored. I could not believe it. I am getting a bit misty eyed right now just remembering. All of those people went that far out of their way just to come see me (And Jamie, Jaislyn and Chris of course...)? Really? Like I said above, wow. I think I am going to be missed. I'll sure miss them.

I spent the remainder of the evening shaking hands, giving and getting hugs, explaining what we'd be doing in Iraq, and just visiting with everyone. It was the perfect sendoff, and I could not have asked for more. Thank you Jamie and Chris for arranging this incredible evening, and a big, sincere Thank You to everyone who took time out of their schedules to come make me feel so special. I will never forget that night or the kindness and love I felt from everyone.

Thank You.

7 Days and Counting

Well, it seems the closer I get to leaving, the faster time moves, not unlike watching the last few grains of sand slip thru the neck of an hourglass. In actuality, that's not an unrealistic analogy. My time here at home is quickly coming to a (temporary) end, and once I get to Iraq, the "hourglass" will be turned over, and once again I will begin a countdown. As I've said before, I hope it goes as quickly as this past year has. I guess we'll see.

This past two weeks has been mostly spent taking care of all the last minute nitnoid items the Army forgot to tell me about. I've updated my dental records, got a government passport, tried to figure out what kind of things I wanted/needed to bring, and then figured out how to fit those items in a small footlocker. One of the highlights last week was when two of the fine gentlemen I will be deploying with were kind enough to fly out here from Alabama to pick up my footlocker and take it to Atlanta. Jaislyn finally got to see "Dada's Air-payne" and sit in the cockpit. She was thrilled to say the least. Altho I am certain there is still more to be done, I can't for the life of me think of anything else, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm done until we leave.

Now comes the hard part. I/we have not yet had "the talk" with Jaislyn. Not because I don't think she'll understand that I'm leaving, but because I still have no clue how or what to tell her so that she understands that I will come back. In her short 2 years, she's come to understand that Dada "goes out of town" on a regular basis, but usually only for a few days at a time. This time, well... you know.

I know I'm not the first to deploy and leave a young child at home, and I know this is only my first deployment, but it is still the first time I've ever had to leave MY young child for such a long time, and let me tell you, that is by far the most difficult part of all of this. Being in Iraq, being gone for a year, etc etc, that's all easy in comparison. I am terrified to walk away from her (and Jamie, Mom, Dad and Shann for that matter) knowing that I will not see her or hold her or hug her again for another 6 months. I'm not sure I can do it in one try, but I know the longer I draw it out, the harder it will be. I'm open to suggestions if anyone happens to have any pearls of wisdom.

Ok, enough of that for now. Now for the fun stuff and good times. In the past few weeks, we've been blessed to have been able to spend lots of time together, just the 3 of us. We've gone to the train park, the duck park and Chuck E Cheese countless times, we've read LOTS of books (Ok, actually it's just been about 3 different books, each read 100 times...), we've memorized "The Jungle Book", which, in a period of two days became Jaislyn's new favorite movie, we've visited with friends, made new friends, danced, played music, had tea parties (in Jaislyn's room), and I've even learned the intricately complex hierarchy that is a 2 year old's doll house. ("No Dada! The pony goes in the BATH TUB!"). I am also now convinced that Arizona is to the kite world what the Bermuda Triangle is to aviation. Kites simply do not fly here. There is wind, but our kits have an unexplainable attraction to the ground. I know this because we've spent many hours attempting to fly a kite (well two kites now) that absolutely refuses to fly. Fortunately for me, Jaislyn doesn't know what a kite is supposed to do, so she's had fun just the same.

This past week, Jamie and Jais have both been sick, each with ear infections and upset stomachs. Thankfully, that hasn't stopped them from spending time with and taking care of me tho (I had 4 teeth pulled last Friday, and they took excellent care of me over the weekend). Jaislyn pretty much refuses to act sick during any portion of the day in which she might reasonably expect to: a) go to Chuck E Cheeses or one of the parks; b) watch a movie (or should I say "THE" movie); c) play with Mama and or Dada; d) take a walk down to the golf course, or e) eat candy. Once she is relatively certain that the above are no longer viable options, she "becomes" sick, and then wants to be "a baby".. her words.

Jamie... wow. Where do I begin? I don't know how she does it. Before I even know it's a new day, she's up, dressed, has Jaislyn fed, bathed and dressed and off to school. Whomever said that "the Army does more before 8am than most people do all day" hasn't met Jamie yet. She's also been actively looking for work, in addition to showing her artwork, making sure our house is spotless, attending to her ladies' groups' activities, and being Jaislyn's #1 full time playmate. I've got the easy part. I just hafta go to Iraq and fly. Ha ha.

In my last week here at home, we've got lots of together time planned. We're going to the AZ State Fair tomorrow, on Friday we're going to a Corn Maze/Halloween festival out in Queen Creek, on Saturday we're having dinner at Spicey's (and will probably find our way to the train park or the duck park at some point as well), on Sunday we're having a BBQ at Uncle Greg's house. Monday and Tuesday currently don't have any hardfast plans... yet. At that point, I'll be happy just to sit and talk, read stories, play tea party, or whatever my two girls want to do. They've been pampering me, I want to return the favor before I go.

A Little More Than 2 Weeks To Go

Well, if time flies as quickly in Iraq as it has here the last month or so, I'll be back home before I know it. If only...

It's 1130am, and I just got home from work about an hour ago. I didn't get much sleep (2 hrs) because we had to fly at midnight, and I didn't get to bed until 4:30am, but that's ok, last night was special. It was my last shift at LifeNet 1, the Air Ambulance base I've been assigned to for the last year. LifeNet 1 is different from any other base I've ever worked, because our quarters are in a fire station. Now, anyone who's known me for a while must know how excited I was to go work at a fire station. Yes, I've always wanted to be a pilot, but what kid doesn't daydream about driving the big fire engine and putting fires out? I'm still just a big kid.

Aside from all the adrenaline that accompanies this job, the best part about LifeNet 1 was the people. The pilots and medical crews I worked with were all top notch, each one a dedicated professional in the truest sense of the word. The Florence firefighters took us in and made us a part of their family. They didn't have to, we were some group of weird flightsuit-wearing invaders in their space, but they immediately made us feel at home, and welcomed us as part of their team. I'd always heard that firefighters were a tight-knit group, but for the past year, I got to experience that first hand and I will never forget it. Thank you guys.

Last night, the A Shift firefighters threw me a going-away ice cream party, and insisted that I bring Jamie and Jaislyn out for the festivities. Of course Jaislyn was more than willing to oblige, and it didnt take much arm twisting for Jamie either. One of the firefighters brought his wife and 6... yes, 6 kids out, and our paramedic's wife brought their kids as well, so as you might imagine Station 549 was a busy place for a few hours. Everybody wanted to go see the helicopter, especially Jaislyn, who's already decided that she can fly it. (Stretch the pedals out a bit and it wouldn't surprise me in the least.) As the previous pilot had left the fuel a bit lower than normal, I decided I needed to fly to the local airport just to "put just a little more fuel on". Well, I had to fly anyway, and all of the seats were going to the same place as the rest of the helicopter, so why should they go empty? (SHHhhhhhh!!! Dont Tell!) Strangely enough, it was rather difficult to find 3 willing volunteers (Jamie "had no desire", but I think she just wanted to stay on the ground and take pictures), but Jaislyn was the first in line. "I go fly Dada's Hewlikoptir?"

As she sat strapped in her carseat, patiently waiting for everyone else to do whatever it was they were doing, she was literally squealing with excitement. She had no idea what she was in for, but whatever it was, she was thrilled about it! It was only after we closed the doors that she decided she didn't reaallllly wanna go fly, but by then it was too late! I gave her her earmuffs, and after a few attempts and some help from Ms. Jennifer (our Flight Nurse), she got them on and then thought she was pretty cool. As we were taking off, I could hear Jais telling me all about something. I would have loved to have heard that story, she was having a blast!

We got to the airport a whole 3 minutes later, and after I shut down, the airport kitty came out to visit. Jaislyn was in hog heaven. Helicopters AND Kitty Cats at the same time? What more could a 2 year old possibly ask for? As I rolled up the fuel hose, kitty ran home and so did we. Jaislyn was babbling to herself again as we took off, but I looked over about a minute later and she was passed out asleep. I reached over and squeezed her leg to wake her up, but she wouldn't have any of it. After all, it was just a ride in Dada's helicopter. Big whoop. Aren't all kids shuttled around in helicopters?

She woke up as soon as I shut the engine down, and then wanted out of her seat. Back on terra firma, she resumed her pre-flight quest: to find the froggy she saw on the helipad before we took off. No luck. Gee darn.

Soon thereafter, the social events of the evening drew to a close, mostly because all the kids were having a hard time staying awake (Not Jaislyn tho, she'd had her "helicopter power nap"!).
45 minutes after everyone left for home (about 12:10am), reality hit as the "bat phone" rang. Time to go to work.

My last flight with LifeNet 1 was a run of the mill prison flight. People find all kinds of interesting ways to harm themselves, and this guy was no exception. Due to the privacy laws that protect overly stupid people, I can't go into what this bonehead did, but it was mildly entertaining, even at 1am. I did get into a brief discussion on the pros and cons of being in prison (There's that prison referrence again), and he told me all about how living in one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "tent city" prisons was such a terrible ordeal, and how he never wanted to go back. My comment to him was: "Well isn't that the whole point of a prison?"

As I tend to do, I've rambled on and on yet again. My apologies (and my thanks if you've managed to get this far.) The whole point of this post was to document my last day (well, night) at work, and let you all read about some of the wonderful people I've had the pleasure of working with, and some of the things I've enjoyed most about this job. I will miss the people the most, but will also miss the adrenaline rush of setting a helicopter down at night in the middle of the desert, or on a busy highway, or on some residential street. I will miss helping people in need. I will miss the 7 on/7 off schedule (The Army has a similar schedule tho, it is 7 on/7 on.) Lastly, I will miss being part of the LifeNet 1/Florence Fire Dept family, altho everyone has promised to keep in touch via Email. That being said, I am looking forward to becoming part of a new (yet old) team. I have just as much respect for the officers I am being deployed with, and I know I will yet again form friendships that will last a lifetime.

Things do happen for a reason.