First leave

i know in writing this i am not going to remember everything nor touch on all of it . But i am going to tell you as much as i remember .
i know the first phone calls were very emotional on me and on him too. Given alot of time that passed. and we were able to talk like ...i want to say normal people but hey he is in the Navy and were at war what can be normal about that one?
what i do what to talk about it his coming home on leave. like i said between his going in and 9-11 i think we got in two of those. Now for most people that is not just a blessing but it sure dont cost as much for them as it has for us and that has placed a huge obstacle between our son and us in being able to see him and him us. see living in Alaska we may as well be living on the moon. my son couldnt afford to walk across the street now on what he made in the navy and put out a fire with a cup of free water. let alone a phone call home or even a trip to see us. oh yea the free military hops ? yea checked into those but you see the trouble with those is they take you to the closest milraty base to your home for a very tiny fee and then you pay to get yourself home from there. sooooooo being in Alaska meant his flying to Anchorage and then paying to get home to a tiny town in southeast alaska . we checked into the cost and it would be the same for him to fly directly from the base where he was stationed to seattle washington and then to here. so there was no point in even trying. and i tell you this those trips home were precious even though they cost me out the nose to see him and him us some because of the lack of notice cost us nearly $1,500 . or more one way.
But they were worth every penny .
our time with him on those leaves went by in a flash and all to soon we had to take him back to the airport and say see ya again soon. i would behave and not get emotional until he was on the plane and then all it took was the frist stop light a block away and i was a mess.