When someone in G's brigade is wounded or killed, the entire FOB goes on a communications blackout. This means no phone calls, texts, instant messages, or e-mails can be sent or received. It's frustrating on both sides - the soldiers have no idea how their families are doing and the families at home wait with white knuckles until we get some kind of news.
Thankfully, no one from his unit has been a casualty so far. There have been injuries, but mostly due to the Taliban's accidental "luck". There is an infantry unit attached to G's brigade, though - and they are the ones primarily in harm's way. The latest blackout has lasted almost a week, which I've learned was actually two blackouts that happened to overlap a(n) hour/day.
It figures that G's birthday would fall right in the middle of this long blackout. He's so good about calling home every day that they aren't on blackout, but the poor guy had to spend his birthday in a country that hates him without his family. My heart breaks thinking about how awful he must have felt on his birthday.
Side note: I DID send a card with instructions on the SEALED envelope for him not to open it until his birthday. HE chose to open it the same day he got the package. Silly man...he's worse than a kid at Christmas.
Anyway, this is the longest we haven't heard from G since he left. It's hard on me, sure, but I have been trying to keep the kids busy so that it's not as hard on them.
I've been trying to have more "good" days than "bad" days (I'll explain my difference between the two in a future post). Today was a good day. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be even better - Bubba has school, so Sissy and I will run some errands - returns and an iced mocha, for sure.
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