And he's gone...

My dad and I took Derick to the airport in Omaha yesterday (4/26/09) around 5:00 am. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I've been away from him before but it was while we were dating and he was stationed in Iceland but this is clearly not the same! We have been together pretty much every day for the last 5 years and have so much more invested in each other now.

Derick is in Gulf Port Mississippi for this week and then next week he will go to Camp Shelby and start training wtih the Army unit he is deploying with. He will come home from June 26th-July 7th before going to Kuwait for processing and then to Afghanistan for 9 months.

Our family was assigned a case worker through The Fleet and Family Support Center. She sent us a huge packet of different literature about the Navy and support information. There was a DVD for Tyson telling a story that Elmo's daddy has to go away for a while to help other people. It's on in the background as I type. In between clips of Elmo there are real families who have been through deployments and some things they did to help deal with their parent/spouse being away. He seems to like the movie but I don't think he fully understands.

Tyson has had several sessions in time out today. I am fully prepared for him to act out during this transition. After all, we have uprooted the poor kid from his daycare, his home, moved in with Grandma and Grandpa and told Daddy good-bye all in less than a week...he's going to be grouchy, I know I am! It was a little hard listening to him scream in time out today since he was crying for Derick...that doesn't help!

I will continue to post notes with updates and such.