Leading Up To Deployment

My brother took a year off of school before he deployed. I liked that choice, because we got to spend more time together. Last summer he took me shopping, and we went on drives a lot. It was great quality time together. We talked, a lot! This was the best summer of my life, so far!

 My grandpa came up last summer, and he got to see my brother as well! This was a very important time for both of them. When Alan was on his way to see our grandpa, the first night, he kind of ran into some problems. He blew up the engine in his 2000 Cobra Mustang. I guess you could say he was pretty angry! I ended up going to pick him up, but I didn't mind it at all! :) It was just more bonding time!

The summer began to go by fast, and it dawned on me that he was leaving soon. I had my 18th birthday before he left, and we spent the whole night hanging out. It was just my brother, his friend, and me. That was probably the best birthday that I have ever had. Two weeks after my birthday, he deployed. It was one of the hardest things to go through. I took two days off from school that week, to spend time with him and our family. The school exempted us from those two days, which was really sweet of them! That meant a lot to me.

He deployed on Friday September 23, 2011. I went to the Young Center, in Spearfish, and said a "see you later" to him. They got on the busses and sat for about a half hour. They all say, "with the army, it's just hurry up...and wait". I can see where they get that from. It was very hard for them. They looked out the window, and just saw family members in tears...all of us holding on to each other. The busses finally departed on their parade route, and even though we weren't supposed to follow the busses we did!

The three charter busses departed from the Young Center, went through Spearfish and Sturgis, and out to the airport. The family members that broke the rules, and followed the bus got to see them one last time before they left. This was the hardest part. We were on opposite sides of the fence, but we could put our hands through the holes and hold theirs. I put my arms through the fence and gave him a huge hug and said our final see you later, for that day. They began to line up to the plane, and eventually all of them were on. We waved to them, and they waved back. The absolute hardest thing to watch was the plane taking off, because you knew that they weren't coming back then; you knew they were off for the year-long deployment. I miss my brother, but I will be seeing him again soon! I can't wait.