Deployment | Fort Campbell, KY
In a person’s life there are few moments who really define who we are. Moments and events that forge us into the people we become. {P} and {S} allowed me to become part of their lives last summer and hired me to be their wedding photographer. I had recently been through some rough events within my own family (which if you read old posts you know) and I found kindred spirits in these two and a desire to do better than I’d ever done before! They were married in Oct at her Grandmother’s home in North MO. Since I am from a small town near there, it was meant to be! I had built in baby sitters at my parents house and a place to stay. It was a wonderful party, the wedding was, and I felt like a part of the family.
Now, a few months have passed and {P} was given deployment orders, as is the norm for a soldier in this decade. I knew that {S}’s heart was breaking and I just felt that there are some pictures that NEED to be taken, and these were in that category. She gladly took me up on the offer, and though I felt a bit like an intruder into this intimate time between soldiers and their families, nothing could have kept me away.
As I stood there watching her and her husband holding onto every last second of the time they had, my heart melted. This was indeed true love, the kind that lasts forever. But the inevitable had to happen, and right on schedule, the role call began. As the buses pulled up and tears were harder to choke back. They kissed one last time and as his hand slipped away, I heard her gasp. The rumble of the buses, the smell of diesel fumes hanging in the air and the overwhelming emotion from everyone standing around me will permanently be imprinted in my memory. As the buses pulled away I hesitated to hug her, standing there, I wanted the feeling of his arms around her to last to the very last second. No words… I had no words as she cried on my shoulder. My tears fell easily now too. “Does it get easier?” She asked. “Mentally it does.” I told her. “But in here, in your heart, it always hurts this much.”
Dads, Mothers, Wives, Husbands and children…. we’ll all be waiting for your safe return. God Bless, my friends.