One Year Ago

One year ago today the girls and I arrived in Hawaii. Robby got here in December but it took us a couple months to follow along. My mom, Julye and my mother-in-law drove us to the airport and helped us get checked in. Gimli whined the whole way through the airport while in his carrier. We checked in the humans first and then took Gimli over to the oversize baggage area to check him in. we had to take him out of the carrier so they could check out the carrier for any security risks. That made him excited that he was going to get freed - unfortunately then I had to put him back in the carrier and send him on his way. Aside from the 9 hour flight ahead of him, he also had a 4 month quarantine when we landed in Hawaii.

Because we were traveling on orders, we were able to get security passes for our escorts which was a huge help. I had decided to check Jadzia's carseat but was bringing Inara's on the flight with us. Dragging it, our carry on luggage and two kids would have probably been more than I could handle alone. Security didn't take long to get through so we still had a few hours to kill before boarding the flight. We all had lunch at one of the airport restraunts together. After lunch my mother-in-law left because she had things to do. Mom and Julye escorted us to the gate and stayed with us until they called for us to board. Unfortnately they couldn't help us on the plane itself but a nice man behind us volunteered to carry the carseat for me.

I was doing okay emotionally until I boarded the plane. Then the fact that I was leaving Texas, leaving my friends and family, leaving everything familiar -even to be with Robby - hit me like a ton of bricks and I started to tear up. I managed to hold it back in order to get the kids settled and our luggage stowed but when my mom called to make sure we'd got on board and I could hear HER getting choked up, I was ready to lose it. I was also 5 months pregnant which probably didn't help my emotional stability at the time. It didn't take long to calm down and get back to the excited "being a whole family" again state. Since Robby left for basic in June we'd been apart for 8 months with only a few short visits in between. Moving to Hawaii meant we'd be together again even if everything else was left behind.

While I miss my friends and my parents and Texas - I would follow him anywhere the Army let's families go. All that being said, I can't wait to get back to the mainland. Hawaii isn't paradise for long - after awhile it's just Hawaii.

On a side note - we're one month out of twelve down. Robby left one month ago today.