In the loop

I know many of you are wondering what happened. Why I haven't written in, like, a week or so. There's no real reason, I suppose. I have either had not enough to talk about or too much and can't narrow my topic down. Here's the rundown.

Most of you know my brother and his family came to visit last weekend. This was to be the last time I will see him for at least a year (assuming Obama isn't going to pull a miracle out of his hat and get the troops home in March ...). He is leaving for Iraq on November 25th (or December 5th, they keep changing it), and they came to visit so he could say goodbye to everyone before leaving.

I hate to say it that way ... "say goodbye" ... it terrifies me, actually, to think about it that way. Last time Josh went overseas he was injured, twice. Both times he was thrown from his vehicle in an explosion of some sort. The first time he was injured, but not put out of commission. The second time is what brought him home a few months early. He sustained a traumatic brain injury, which terrified all of us to no end. He fought headaches, speech issues, and memory lapses for months. He says that he is "all good" now and back to normal. I think he still has headaches and occasional bouts with insomnia (what vet doesn't?), but he seems ready to head back over there.

So they came to visit, and our family dinner became a double-family party. While I am very happy that Josh was able to spend time with our family and Mary's, I wish I could have spent more time with him ... my family and his. It's tough to ask him to do that when he seems to enjoy his time with his in-laws so much more. Mary comes from a huge family, 7 brothers and sisters I think. Lots of nieces and nephews. Josh has grown very close to Mary's youngest brother, Tom. He is a great guy, and his wife is equally as wonderful. The rest of the family I don't know as well, but they seem alright. They are loud ... which is to be expected with a big family where everyone has to compete with each other to be heard and seen. So, it is hard for Tim (who never makes a peep), my mom (who never wants to rock the boat and make people uncomfortable), and myself to compete. But we made it happen on Saturday night. The whole clan, plus my surrogate brother Chris (Josh's BF from grade school) came to dinner at my mom's house. We ate chicken, burgers, drank beer ... it was a good time.

Then Monday was committed to me. Mary, Mom, and I went shopping while the kids all played together with Unc' Josh watching over them (OK, so he was sleeping, but he needs to stock up!). Then we had dinner again, quieter this time, and said our goodbyes. Tuesday morning they left to head back to North Carolina.

So here we are now, still not absolutely sure when he is leaving. It makes me sad that Mary and Josh's girls will have this Thanksgiving, the first in their new house, without their daddy. And this Christmas Mary says they won't be able to come visit because she has to work. So it may really be a lonnng time before we see them again. And it will definitely be a long time before we see Josh.

While time seems to be flying by in all other respects, the time that Josh is gone crawls. I try not to watch the news. I try not to read too much about the war. Last time he was in Iraq we could at least email him and talk to him on the phone occasionally. Mary even had a web cam so the kids could see him from time to time. This time will be different. He will be in a more remote location without all the technology. I guess we'll have to communicate the old fashioned way with letters and care packages. Hopefully, he will return to us unscathed this time and never have to go back. Hopefully, he will not lose any friends this time. Hopefully, he will be able to play a part in what has become one of the most argued-over wars in our history. And when it is all over, he will still be my little brother. My little brother, the hero!