If you read my previous post you know that my beta fish, Fishy, jumped out of his bowl last night. Although I rescued him and he seemed to be swimming around the bowl before I went to bed, he must have been been injured from being out of water too long. He passed away around 3:00pm today.
When I woke up this morning, I was dreading going into the living room to check on Fishy. I was afraid that I would find him dead in his bowl after what had happened last night. When I finally went to check on him I was greeted by the sight of him at the bottom of the bowl. This is not uncommon as he often likes to sleep on the bottom. However he did not come to the surface to eat when I sprinkled his food into the bowl. I knew this was not a good sign. He didn't seem his normal jewel blue color either but rather seemed to have taken on a grayish hue. He was still alive but I had a feeling that he was dying.
I tried to do whatever I could to make him comfortable. I didn't want him to suffer. I took the tulle off of the top of his bowl, little chance he would jump out now when he could barely move, and opened the shades so that the sun would warm his water. I watched him as I ate breakfast. He feebly tried to swim to the surface a couple of times but each time it seemed as if he had to expend an enormous effort to get to the top only to run out of energy and sink back down to the bottom, gills flapping laboriously as he struggled to breathe.
I felt awful but there wasn't anything else I could do. I decided that the best thing I could do was to let him be and let him rest. I checked on him every fifteen minutes or so as I did my household chores. After awhile he stopped trying to reach the top of the bowl. He just sat on the bottom slowly moving his front fins and trying to breathe.
An hour or so later he had moved from sitting on the bottom by the side of the bowl to laying on his side on the bottom. He was still alive but I didn't think he would be for much longer. He only had enough energy to move the one front fin on the side of his body facing upwards and his gills flapped open and closed very slowly. He was quiet but I knew he was struggling to breathe.
Around 3:00 when I checked on him again I noticed that his fin seemed to have stopped moving and his gills didn't seem to be opening either. I had a feeling that he had passed but I half hoped that he was just resting. He never moved again.
I hope he didn't suffer too much. I really enjoyed having him and although he wasn't a pet that I could cuddle, he was company that made me feel less alone with Hubby gone. Part of me is still in denial. I keep checking his lifeless form to see if he might just wake up and start swimming around the bowl. I know he won't.
Both Hubby and May told me that a year is a pretty good life for a walmart fish but I still feel sad. I know he was only a fish but he was still special to me. I still remember the day Hubby brought him home to surprise me like it was yesterday.
I want to bury him in the yard. I can't bring myself to flush him or throw him in the trash. I had to borrow a shovel from May but by the time I brought it home it was too dark to see. (All I had to dig with was a spoon.) I poured most of the water from the bowl into the sink. I poured Fishy's body and the remaining water into his cup. Just to prove to myself that he really was gone I poked his body with a straw. There was no reaction. Now I knew for sure he was gone. I put the lid on the cup and put the bowl in the sink.
I plan to bury Fishy in the morning when it is light again and I can see well enough to dig a small grave beneath one of our trees. I want to make sure that the grave is deep enough so that a feral cat won't be able to dig him up very easily.
I keep looking at the place where Fishy's bowl usually sits. I miss him already. I miss watching him swim around and the way he liked to watch me. I know it sounds dumb but I feel that much more alone. Now I really am completely alone here in the house. I caught myself looking at the cup on the counter a few times hoping that Fishy had come back to life.
Hubby said I could get a new fish and I suggested that maybe we could pick one out together at Christmas if he is able to come home. For now, I am just sad. But I know that Fishy is in fish heaven. Rest in peace Fishy. I loved you.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
My Neurotic Fish
Shortly after my husband and I moved into our house last year my husband suprised me by bringing home a beta fish. I was excited, although a fish is not a dog, and although he isn't very cuddly I have grown fond of our fish. When we first got him I started calling him Fishy. I know, not very creative, but I could never think of anything better and the name stuck. I am pretty anal in making sure that I care for Fishy. I feed him twice day and change his water once a week. I am also very careful to make sure that someone cares for him when I am out of town. However, Fishy has a terrible habit of jumping out of his bowl. Yes, that's right, he likes to jump OUT of the bowl. Only I would have a fish that doesn't stay in the bowl.
In the past he has jumped into the sink and onto the floor while I have been cleaning his bowl and he has been swimming in his cup. Luckily hubby was around to help me save him. Fishy has also ripped his own fins in the past too but that's another issue.
Anyways, when I was washing dishes tonight I decided that the bowl could use cleaning so I put Fishy into his cup as usual and washed his bowl. I left Fishy in his cup on the counter while I waited for his water to warm up. He freaks out if the new water is too cold. I do this every week. A couple of hours later I walked into the kitchen to put Fishy into his bowl only to discover that he was not in his cup.
WTF? I thought. Where is the fish????? I looked around eveywhere and finally spotted him laying on the counter. I have no idea how long he had been there. I quickly scopped him up and put him in the bowl. He seemed pretty dry and I thought he might be dead but after bout 5 seconds of floating in the bowl he sprang to life and starting swimming vigorously around the bowl.
He keeps varying between swimming like crazy around the bowl and laying on the bottom. I'm not sure if he is ok or not. I am paranoid that he will jump out again tonight because he is acting so crazy so I put a piece of tulle over the bowl with a rubber band. I am hoping that this will keep him in the bowl while still allowing him to breathe.
Who thought I would have to devise a way to keep a fish in water?? Only my fish and of course Hubby isn't hear to help :( Go Figure.
Here's hoping that Fishy is still alive and swimming in the morning :-/
In the past he has jumped into the sink and onto the floor while I have been cleaning his bowl and he has been swimming in his cup. Luckily hubby was around to help me save him. Fishy has also ripped his own fins in the past too but that's another issue.
Anyways, when I was washing dishes tonight I decided that the bowl could use cleaning so I put Fishy into his cup as usual and washed his bowl. I left Fishy in his cup on the counter while I waited for his water to warm up. He freaks out if the new water is too cold. I do this every week. A couple of hours later I walked into the kitchen to put Fishy into his bowl only to discover that he was not in his cup.
WTF? I thought. Where is the fish????? I looked around eveywhere and finally spotted him laying on the counter. I have no idea how long he had been there. I quickly scopped him up and put him in the bowl. He seemed pretty dry and I thought he might be dead but after bout 5 seconds of floating in the bowl he sprang to life and starting swimming vigorously around the bowl.
He keeps varying between swimming like crazy around the bowl and laying on the bottom. I'm not sure if he is ok or not. I am paranoid that he will jump out again tonight because he is acting so crazy so I put a piece of tulle over the bowl with a rubber band. I am hoping that this will keep him in the bowl while still allowing him to breathe.
Who thought I would have to devise a way to keep a fish in water?? Only my fish and of course Hubby isn't hear to help :( Go Figure.
Here's hoping that Fishy is still alive and swimming in the morning :-/
Fairy Tales
I just watched the season premier of ABC's Once Upon A Time. I think this is a show that I am really going to love. The season premier really grabbed me. I already love fairy tales to begin with. I have always loved them even as a child and now as an English major and English teacher.
In this new show, fairy tale characters have been trapped in the modern world by the evil queen and have had their memories wiped so they have no recollection of who they are. In steps the one woman who could be their salvation.
I am excited to watch again next week!
In this new show, fairy tale characters have been trapped in the modern world by the evil queen and have had their memories wiped so they have no recollection of who they are. In steps the one woman who could be their salvation.
I am excited to watch again next week!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Earthquake
Today I can proudly say that I survived my first earthquake. They are extremely rare in the state I live in but nonetheless we experienced a quake measuring 4.6 on the richter scale this morning around 7:30am. I was laying in my bed texting Hubby and waiting for a sub call. At first it felt like a cat had jumped on the bed. Before I was married I had a cat (who passed away a few weeks before my wedding) and she always slept on my bed. Sometimes when she jumped on the bed the force of her leap would shake it a bit. This is what the beginning of the earthquake felt like. However my cat wasn't here so and as I looked around the room I realized that the entire house seemed to be shaking. I wasn't too worried. Living on a military post this occasionally happens when an exceptionally large truck rolls by or when they pack a little too much gun powder into the cannon at 5:30pm. It seemed a little early for the trucks and the house seemed to shake more than usual.. after all my entire bed was shaking.. but I just chalked it up to something normal. The entire thing only lasted for a minute or two. Half an hour later I turned on the TV to find reports of the quake on the news. Who knew?! Not everyone felt it but I can say that I definitely did. Luckily it wasn't a big deal.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Dear Bank of America. You Make Me Want to Scream.
I HAVE HAD IT WITH BANK OF AMERICA.
I have tried REALLY tried to be patient but they have tested my patience beyond its breaking point. Warning: I am about to vent my frustration.
Shortly after my husband deployed in June I received a letter from my credit card company stating that they were being bought out by Bank of America (BOA). Until then I had never had any problems with my credit card company and really liked their customer service. Hubby and I choose to put him on my account and to cancel his credit card company when we married and joined accounts because I had had my card since 2006 and have a great credit limit. We had been happy with this choice up until I received this letter.
With hubby deployed, he uses/depends on this card quite a bit. In particular his Internet is charged to it every month and without Internet, our communication is diminished and he cannot work on his grad class work.
When I received the letter about the buy out in June I was not happy. I was worried about Hubby not having access to the new card. I immediately called up my credit card company and asked them about the buy out. I asked if my credit card number would be changing and they said no. They also told me that my hubby could continue to use the card he had even though I would be receiving a new one with the BOA logo since the actual account number was not changing. Reassured that everything would be fine, the issue floated to the back of my mind. I was not too worried. I had actually had a BOA bank account before we were married and only cancelled it when we opted to get a joint account with the more military friendly USAA instead. I decided that having a credit card with BOA would be fine.
In July I received another letter about the change over and call me paranoid but I wanted to confirm what I had been told the month before because I was still worried about Hubby and his card. This time when I called I was told that my card number was changing but that due to Hubby being deployed I could get special permission to keep my card number until he returned so that he would not be inconvenienced. After several minutes on the phone with a supervisor everything was arranged. Again I thought I had solved the problem before it became an issue.
August came and with it yet another letter notifying me of the change over. Seeing as the "story" had changed last time I decided to call again to verify that my card number still would not change. Again call me paranoid but as you will see... it turns out my intuition was justified. This time when I called I was informed that my number had to change. However, they were willing to send Hubby's card directly to him instead of sending both cards to me at our home address so that he would receive his card at the same time I would and so our card would have less chance of being compromised (I was advised that sending him his card myself would be less secure not to mention that it would take a while to go snail mail and there was a chance that the old card would become inactive before he received it). They were willing to send his card directly to him because his address is an APO which means that it would not cost them anything extra. They took down his address and confirmed everything before I hung up. The change over was set to happen at the beginning of September.
One day in early September I came home to work to find a BOA envelope in my mail box. I knew this was my new card but as I opened the envelope my stomach dropped and I was instantly filled with a feeling of unease as I saw that it contained not just my card, but a card with Hubby's name on it as well. Fearing that his card was sent to me I dialed the customer service number. As I held to speak to a representative I prayed that they had sent a second copy of his card to him and that sending one to me had just been an automatic thing? My fear was confirmed. Everything I had sought to prevent had happened. They had not sent a card to Hubby.
I explained the whole situation for the fourth time. I was informed that not only had they not sent Hubby his card but that but they "do not mail to APOs". I was irate. I demanded to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor claimed to have no record of my previous calls and blamed it all on my old company. After two hours on the phone the supervisor finally agreed to "expedite mail" my hubby his card and to "waive" the $25 fee as a "courtesy" to me. I was about to give him Hubby's address when suddenly he was like wait a minute... please hold. Annoyed I thought.... now what....several minutes later he came back on the line and said by any chance is this your husband's address? reading his address to me. I rolled my eyes. "Yes" I said. It is. Hmmmm now how could they have that information if as they claimed.. I had never called before? If.. as they claimed they had never agreed to mail to an APO... If as they claimed my other company never would have agreed to do that on their behalf. Idiots.
For the next week and a half I pestered Hubby incessantly to check his mailbox. Finally his card arrived. I called to active the new cards only to be informed that they could not be activated. I was put on hold for several minutes while a representative "looked into it." Believe it or not I was informed that the card had been compromised and that we would have to be issued new cards. I was speechless with disbelief. How could it be compromised if it has not even been activated yet? Turns out it had been compromised THAT MORNING by a glitch in the BOA computer system. Go Figure. High Five BOA.... High Five. NOT.
I informed BOA that they would have to send Hubby another card at no charge to us again and I was assured that they would do so and that the card that had been "compromised" could be used until Oct. 23rd and that we should continue to use it since our original card was now inactive. I also want to add that I was told that numerous things I had been told by the "supervisor" last time were in fact not true. Awesome. I informed Hubby of the status. He was going out to the field so we would have to wait until he got back for him to get his card. I wasn't too worried since we had two and a half weeks before the current card would be no good and Hubby was only going to be gone a few days.
The next day while I was at work I got a call from BOA asking me to call them back ASAP. I spent my lunch hour on the phone to them. They claimed they could not mail to an APO. Seriously? I explained to them the situation and how they had mailed to Hubby's APO just week before and literally explained to them how to do their own job. I never had time to eat.
Over the weekend Hubby and I both had issues using our cards. Today is only October 17th.... the card was supposed to be fine until the 23rd. Luckily his card had arrived and I called today to activate the new new card. After being on hold for 20 minutes I finally got to speak to a representative to informed me that I had to talk to authorizations. He transferred me and again I waited on hold. But I was disconnected after waiting 10 minutes. I called back and waited another 17 minutes to talk to another rep. When I finally got someone I explained that I had been disconnected and had been holding for quite a long time. This rep felt bad for me and said he would personally transfer me. I asked the authorizations rep why our card had not been working over the weekend. She claimed her system said that our card was fine until the 26th (yes 3 days past when I was told) and she had no reason for why it had been denied over the weekend. She activated our new cards and I hoped everything was over.
I logged onto my computer to set up my online BOA account. I like to be able to see the credit card balance and Hubby wanted to be able to see our points. I set up the account but was dismayed that it would only let me use my maiden name as a login and would only show my maiden name on the homepage. I assume this is because the system recognized me from when I used to be a BOA banking customer and had an account.
Reluctant to call again I noticed an online chat button. I clicked it and hoped I could resolve it all over the computer as I watched a favorite TV show. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes a rep finally typed back to me. I immediately told her that I wanted to update my name on my online banking account. She confirmed my request and began to take all of my information. After half an hour she confirmed that my card and account showed my married name but that my online account showed my maiden name. However, she then informed me that I had to call a 1 800 number to get it fixed. She could not do it. She claimed she could not fix anything with the online banking. When I asked her why she wasted my time and took all of my information when she could have told me first thing that she could not help me, she told me that I had a good point. She "apologized for the inconvenience." It took an additional 15 minutes on the phone to get this error fixed.
I am done. SO DONE. It is time to shop for a new credit card company. While we are at it I think it is time to find one that does not charge fees for Hubby's "foreign transactions."
I have tried REALLY tried to be patient but they have tested my patience beyond its breaking point. Warning: I am about to vent my frustration.
Shortly after my husband deployed in June I received a letter from my credit card company stating that they were being bought out by Bank of America (BOA). Until then I had never had any problems with my credit card company and really liked their customer service. Hubby and I choose to put him on my account and to cancel his credit card company when we married and joined accounts because I had had my card since 2006 and have a great credit limit. We had been happy with this choice up until I received this letter.
With hubby deployed, he uses/depends on this card quite a bit. In particular his Internet is charged to it every month and without Internet, our communication is diminished and he cannot work on his grad class work.
When I received the letter about the buy out in June I was not happy. I was worried about Hubby not having access to the new card. I immediately called up my credit card company and asked them about the buy out. I asked if my credit card number would be changing and they said no. They also told me that my hubby could continue to use the card he had even though I would be receiving a new one with the BOA logo since the actual account number was not changing. Reassured that everything would be fine, the issue floated to the back of my mind. I was not too worried. I had actually had a BOA bank account before we were married and only cancelled it when we opted to get a joint account with the more military friendly USAA instead. I decided that having a credit card with BOA would be fine.
In July I received another letter about the change over and call me paranoid but I wanted to confirm what I had been told the month before because I was still worried about Hubby and his card. This time when I called I was told that my card number was changing but that due to Hubby being deployed I could get special permission to keep my card number until he returned so that he would not be inconvenienced. After several minutes on the phone with a supervisor everything was arranged. Again I thought I had solved the problem before it became an issue.
August came and with it yet another letter notifying me of the change over. Seeing as the "story" had changed last time I decided to call again to verify that my card number still would not change. Again call me paranoid but as you will see... it turns out my intuition was justified. This time when I called I was informed that my number had to change. However, they were willing to send Hubby's card directly to him instead of sending both cards to me at our home address so that he would receive his card at the same time I would and so our card would have less chance of being compromised (I was advised that sending him his card myself would be less secure not to mention that it would take a while to go snail mail and there was a chance that the old card would become inactive before he received it). They were willing to send his card directly to him because his address is an APO which means that it would not cost them anything extra. They took down his address and confirmed everything before I hung up. The change over was set to happen at the beginning of September.
One day in early September I came home to work to find a BOA envelope in my mail box. I knew this was my new card but as I opened the envelope my stomach dropped and I was instantly filled with a feeling of unease as I saw that it contained not just my card, but a card with Hubby's name on it as well. Fearing that his card was sent to me I dialed the customer service number. As I held to speak to a representative I prayed that they had sent a second copy of his card to him and that sending one to me had just been an automatic thing? My fear was confirmed. Everything I had sought to prevent had happened. They had not sent a card to Hubby.
I explained the whole situation for the fourth time. I was informed that not only had they not sent Hubby his card but that but they "do not mail to APOs". I was irate. I demanded to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor claimed to have no record of my previous calls and blamed it all on my old company. After two hours on the phone the supervisor finally agreed to "expedite mail" my hubby his card and to "waive" the $25 fee as a "courtesy" to me. I was about to give him Hubby's address when suddenly he was like wait a minute... please hold. Annoyed I thought.... now what....several minutes later he came back on the line and said by any chance is this your husband's address? reading his address to me. I rolled my eyes. "Yes" I said. It is. Hmmmm now how could they have that information if as they claimed.. I had never called before? If.. as they claimed they had never agreed to mail to an APO... If as they claimed my other company never would have agreed to do that on their behalf. Idiots.
For the next week and a half I pestered Hubby incessantly to check his mailbox. Finally his card arrived. I called to active the new cards only to be informed that they could not be activated. I was put on hold for several minutes while a representative "looked into it." Believe it or not I was informed that the card had been compromised and that we would have to be issued new cards. I was speechless with disbelief. How could it be compromised if it has not even been activated yet? Turns out it had been compromised THAT MORNING by a glitch in the BOA computer system. Go Figure. High Five BOA.... High Five. NOT.
I informed BOA that they would have to send Hubby another card at no charge to us again and I was assured that they would do so and that the card that had been "compromised" could be used until Oct. 23rd and that we should continue to use it since our original card was now inactive. I also want to add that I was told that numerous things I had been told by the "supervisor" last time were in fact not true. Awesome. I informed Hubby of the status. He was going out to the field so we would have to wait until he got back for him to get his card. I wasn't too worried since we had two and a half weeks before the current card would be no good and Hubby was only going to be gone a few days.
The next day while I was at work I got a call from BOA asking me to call them back ASAP. I spent my lunch hour on the phone to them. They claimed they could not mail to an APO. Seriously? I explained to them the situation and how they had mailed to Hubby's APO just week before and literally explained to them how to do their own job. I never had time to eat.
Over the weekend Hubby and I both had issues using our cards. Today is only October 17th.... the card was supposed to be fine until the 23rd. Luckily his card had arrived and I called today to activate the new new card. After being on hold for 20 minutes I finally got to speak to a representative to informed me that I had to talk to authorizations. He transferred me and again I waited on hold. But I was disconnected after waiting 10 minutes. I called back and waited another 17 minutes to talk to another rep. When I finally got someone I explained that I had been disconnected and had been holding for quite a long time. This rep felt bad for me and said he would personally transfer me. I asked the authorizations rep why our card had not been working over the weekend. She claimed her system said that our card was fine until the 26th (yes 3 days past when I was told) and she had no reason for why it had been denied over the weekend. She activated our new cards and I hoped everything was over.
I logged onto my computer to set up my online BOA account. I like to be able to see the credit card balance and Hubby wanted to be able to see our points. I set up the account but was dismayed that it would only let me use my maiden name as a login and would only show my maiden name on the homepage. I assume this is because the system recognized me from when I used to be a BOA banking customer and had an account.
Reluctant to call again I noticed an online chat button. I clicked it and hoped I could resolve it all over the computer as I watched a favorite TV show. After waiting on hold for 10 minutes a rep finally typed back to me. I immediately told her that I wanted to update my name on my online banking account. She confirmed my request and began to take all of my information. After half an hour she confirmed that my card and account showed my married name but that my online account showed my maiden name. However, she then informed me that I had to call a 1 800 number to get it fixed. She could not do it. She claimed she could not fix anything with the online banking. When I asked her why she wasted my time and took all of my information when she could have told me first thing that she could not help me, she told me that I had a good point. She "apologized for the inconvenience." It took an additional 15 minutes on the phone to get this error fixed.
I am done. SO DONE. It is time to shop for a new credit card company. While we are at it I think it is time to find one that does not charge fees for Hubby's "foreign transactions."
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Book Review of The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education
A few days ago I finished listening to the audio version of The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education by: Craig M. Mullaney. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book or audio version. It was not a light fluffy kind of read but I really enjoyed it. It is the true story of Mullaney's own life and expiriences as a platoon leader in Afganistan. He chronicals his education as a soldier from his college exprience at West Point through his deployment to Afganistan but he doesn't just foucs on the military aspect. He is very real and personal in his writing and openly discusses personal relationships, family crisis, and his feelings about how his job as a soldier and his religion as a christian seem at times at odds with each other. Parts of the story were not easy to listen to but I have to admit that I laughed out loud, smiled, and ultimately teared up with Mullaney as he told his story. This is not a book promoting or not promoting the military but rather a personal account from someone who could be you or I. This is a man who I can see changing lives for the better. I hope that wherever he is today he is well and happy. Pick up his book. It definitely made me see things in a different light.
Life Changing With The Seasons
Fall has arrived.
In some ways I am thankful for the cooler days (although in my neck of the woods fall weather means 80 degrees instead of 100 in comparison to the east coast where I am originally from where fall weather means 60's) but, I always dread the end of summer. Summer is my favorite season. Life is in full swing, life is blooming, and the opportunity for fun seems right around the corner. Fall has always to me symbolized the beginning of the end. It hearkens the coming of winter and the death of all things until spring again. Yes, I know, everything comes back to life in the spring and winter here isn't even very cold but still, winter to me is not something that I look forward to.
Coinciding with the arrival of fall is the departure of my husband's former unit as they deploy to the middle east. This means that not only are the husbands of a few very good friends leaving but I am also losing Ellie, the good friend and army chaplain that I had the pleasure of meeting this summer. She has been a blessing in the past few months and although I know that I am not "losing" her permanently, I am still feeling sadness about her impending departure. I m thankful for the time that we did have together but it seems only appropriate for this to happen in the fall season when things seem to be changing along with the leaves.
Please say a prayer for Ellie as she faces new challenges and for the soldiers who will accompany her on this new mission. God Bless them all and keep them safe from any harm. May the time pass quickly and may the friends and family left behind find friendship and support in each other. It has been four months since my own husband left and I still feel lost without him but I am taking one day at a time and know that these spouses too will survive the separation.
Ellie has created a blog where she plans to post sermons that she delivers while deployed and where she plans to share some of her experiences. Check her out at http://melbaars.blogspot.com/ I hope she touches and inspires your life in the same ways that she has mine.
In some ways I am thankful for the cooler days (although in my neck of the woods fall weather means 80 degrees instead of 100 in comparison to the east coast where I am originally from where fall weather means 60's) but, I always dread the end of summer. Summer is my favorite season. Life is in full swing, life is blooming, and the opportunity for fun seems right around the corner. Fall has always to me symbolized the beginning of the end. It hearkens the coming of winter and the death of all things until spring again. Yes, I know, everything comes back to life in the spring and winter here isn't even very cold but still, winter to me is not something that I look forward to.
Coinciding with the arrival of fall is the departure of my husband's former unit as they deploy to the middle east. This means that not only are the husbands of a few very good friends leaving but I am also losing Ellie, the good friend and army chaplain that I had the pleasure of meeting this summer. She has been a blessing in the past few months and although I know that I am not "losing" her permanently, I am still feeling sadness about her impending departure. I m thankful for the time that we did have together but it seems only appropriate for this to happen in the fall season when things seem to be changing along with the leaves.
Please say a prayer for Ellie as she faces new challenges and for the soldiers who will accompany her on this new mission. God Bless them all and keep them safe from any harm. May the time pass quickly and may the friends and family left behind find friendship and support in each other. It has been four months since my own husband left and I still feel lost without him but I am taking one day at a time and know that these spouses too will survive the separation.
Ellie has created a blog where she plans to post sermons that she delivers while deployed and where she plans to share some of her experiences. Check her out at http://melbaars.blogspot.com/ I hope she touches and inspires your life in the same ways that she has mine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)