Keep on keeping on

We sometimes forget what it must be like for the people we have left back home. It is easy to take for granted the fact that we know where we are at all times and whether we are safe or in danger. For our loved ones there is rarely certainty, and it is all too easy for imaginations to run wild. For us a few busy weeks can fly by in a blink. Before we realize it it’s been far too long since the last time we called home. All the while our mothers spend sleepless nights envisioning us dodging bullets and battling insurgents with big Rambo knives. In reality, at that very moment, we’re most likely napping our engaged in some mundane task. It must be similar to how I feel when, on my night off, the boys get called out. When five hours pass and they haven't come back yet you start to wonder what could have happened. Then, at 2am when your roommates come strolling through the door they ask you why you're sitting by the door and still dressed.

Please forgive us for our occasional bouts of thoughtlessness. For those of you with a loved one over here I’ll tell you what I always say to my own mother. Let the time pass. Don’t worry yourselves more than you have to. You take care of that from your end, and we’ll take care of each other from this end.