Six years later...

Six years ago today, January 31, 2003 - Josh enlisted.   When we met in 2004 -  4 years and 10 months ago, it seemed so far off.  Of course, I never would have thought the night we met that I would be celebrating his last "official" day of his enlistment!  It is somewhat over.  Josh cannot be released until the "stop-loss" is lifted.  Even once that is done, it will be approximately 90 days, so we have a few more months of things to do (reintegration weekends, in particular), but the end is very near.  Beginning tomorrow he will technically begin his independent ready reserve commitment, which will end on January 31, 2011.  Josh is protected for some time from being re-deployed or called up for duty, and we cross our fingers that it will never be a remote issue for us.  

This is where we really celebrate the trip to Hawaii.  He was supposed to receive that surprise tonight, but I couldn't wait.  Many people have asked and the trip is scheduled for August 2009!  It is part of my month off from work; instead of July this year, I will be gone part of July and August.  We can't wait and look forward to being in paradise for 11 days.   A great celebration to look forward to in the months ahead.

Our celebration seems a little less important after learning of some extremely saddening events our friends and family have endured in the last 36 hours.   To all of the people who prayed for us in the past year, we ask you to say an extra prayer for the Brown and Sheppard families.    They need some extra support and strength in days and months ahead.