Hey, y'all -
After a month of training in the desert outside Ft. Bliss, we found out your dad was going to get three days of leave before getting on the plane to Afghanistan, though he wouldn't be allowed to leave the El Paso area. I thought about it for a whole 30 seconds before I bought an overpriced plane ticket to go be with him.
I made the decision to go the same night I hosted a birthday party for one of my friends, and when the girls heard about it, they all immediately volunteered to take a childcare shift. Between my friends and Grandma Sue doing the heavy lifting (including all the night shifts), I was able to get away for three precious days with your dad. I will be forever grateful.
Your dad and I stayed at a lovely hotel downtown and ate more Mexican food than the law ought to allow. We had margaritas and bought cowboy boots - one explains the other. We saw my friend Chris Telles, who I met working on "Murder In Small Town X" for Fox back in 2000 (My first television shoot. In Maine. In winter.) We explored historic towns on the border, and we drove all the way out to White Sands, New Mexico to hike around in the unending miles of white gypsum powder.
On the way back from White Sands, we stopped for a snack and I laughed to myself, thinking back to the day your dad and I got married. One of our marriage vows was "I will follow you anywhere." At the ceremony, this made some people giggle, because at the time, this southern girl was already living with your dad in a backwoods cabin in rural Montana, so it was obvious I'd follow him anywhere. Anyway, I laughed to myself as I thought, "Sometimes 'anywhere' is the snowy boonies of Montana, and sometimes 'anywhere' is a roadside Chili's in Alamogordo, New Mexico for queso dip."
Ah, well. At the end of our days, you'll be able to say of your parents: "When it came to loving each other, they never half-assed it."
Love,
Mom
P.S. This is your dad's favorite picture from the trip: Me, making a sand angel. It's ridiculous.
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