Yes, this afternoon Scotty drove off in his car heading for his duty station at Camp Pendleton in California.  He has to report by midnight on Saturday, but it is still a 31+ hour drive……..better him than me I suppose.  But it has been a busy week with him here and even more than that a week that went by far too quickly.

One of my favorite highlights however was the trickery of having Scotty’s girlfriend Kenzie think we were all going out with Amanda to a nice place for dinner.  (This was yesterday)  She went, like we all did, to a part of the house to change into dressy clothes, but when Scotty came down in his Dress Blues she saw that the dinner was for her.  And as none of the rest of us were in Dress Blues, she also saw that she was heading out with him alone.  He took her to downtown Indianapolis for a nice dinner, while Ben and I treated his mom to her favorite meal that we cook and an ice cream cake from DQ (one of her demands, I mean hopes).

But they deserved a great night out as they have been around too many of us and people all week.  And  as you can see, they both looked like they were off the front of some really expensive Hallmark card as well.  It was fun seeing them head off for the night out, as we knew today when he left everyone would need to lean on such good memories.

In all honesty, parenting is hard.  It is a strange mix
of unexplainable pride and pain, a true paradox.  Quite honestly I hate it, yet I wouldn’t want it any other way.  I have spent their entire lives knowing that they would grow up and leave, and have prepared myself far more than most for it to happen.  It wasn’t enough.  It almost makes me wish that they were all rotten kids so it would be easier to see them go.

But they are not.  In my eyes they are the best and I love them all very much.  AND,  I am extremely proud of them.

Safe travels Marine, and same to you Steph (she is in EUROPE)……and Ben, dear Ben, you just keep killing me here at home……

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+