Sad day.

Today is definitely a sad day. For anyone reading this, please go home and hug your loved ones. Let them know that you love them and cherish this moment in time.

We've just surpassed the halfway point for the deployment and we've certainly been celebrating this milestone. We've started counting down rather than counting up, and it feels amazing. That is, until today.

I hadn't heard from Mr. S in about a week, so when I got a message from him today I was ecstatic, until he told me that he had something important to tell me. Naturally, I stopped cold and began to panic. Had he been hurt? Was something wrong?

As it turns out, we lost a cherished soldier yesterday. He was a well respected man and his wife and I have become friends through the deployment.  He leaves behind two young boys as well. I am deeply saddened for her. She has dedicated her whole life to this man, to this life and now it has all been taken from her. She didn't deserve this. Her kids didn't deserve this. While we're all still counting down the days until our husbands will come home, her countdown has dissolved right before her eyes, and I can't even begin to imagine how that feels. 

Mr. S is upset. We were able to Skype for a little and talk about it. I think this genuinely frightened him. Since Simon has been serving, I've never seen fear in his eyes before today. The war is much more of a reality for both of us now. We're both that much more anxious for the deployment to be over and for him to be home safe with me again.

For privacy reasons, I don't want to give out the soldier's name, but please keep his family in your prayers. They could use all the prayers and warm wishes you can spare.