Learning to Say Goodbye...Adam's Deployment

If you are a parent, you know how it feels to say goodbye to your child. It begins with the babysitter, to be followed by pre-school, kindergarten on up to the day you leave them behind at their college dorm room. It's never been easy for me. I adore my sons and miss them everyday but I have adjusted over time, little by little, to the gradual separations that have led up them becoming independent adults. Today, my son Adam, Lieutenant JG, deployed to southeast asia on a hospital ship, the U.S.S. Mercy which will perform a humanitarian mission for five months. They will be visiting several countries throughout southeast asia lending medical care and services to those in need. It is easier than the last three times when he was on a destroyer which traveled through the middle east. This time I feel more secure and hopeful that he will not be in "harms way" - yet - leaving is leaving. Today is a mixed blessing - knowing he will be helping others yet missing that smile, sense of humor and joy I feel when he walks into the room,,,