The difference a year makes....

His patrol car was loaded up with clothes, food, towels, shave kit, black shoes so shiny you could see your reflection and freshly dry cleaned uniforms, complete with heavy starch(just the way he likes them) and newly added Sergent stripes.

With a hug and a few tears he was gone.....

A year ago today Chris was heading West 2 1/2 hours away from home to his new duty station. We were so unsure about anything at the time....

How long would he have to live out of bags from a hotel room?
How long would it be before he could transfer back home?
Would he be home for the upcoming holidays?
How long would it be just Kyle and I eating dinner with Chris's empty chair in between us?
And how long would it be before I went crazy missing him?

So much has changed in the past year! We survived Chris being gone for 9 months. We (barely)survived eating our Thanksgiving dinner at the Golden Corral. We survived the holidays spent apart. And Chris survived living off of fast food for 9 months!!!

With faith and trust in God, he lead us through and we survived!!!

What a difference a year makes!!!!