Payton and I have a lot of discussions about Daddy being in Afghanistan.
1. He lives on a plane. We are continually dropping him off at the airport and this fact just cannot be argued. 2. He’s working with the guys. The guys love him and hug him and kiss him. They’re very happy he’s there. 3. He will be very happy when he gets to see her again. He will hug her and kiss her and love her.
I’d say she’s ALMOST bang on with this theories.
Rob's deployment has him working closely with a team of four other bodyguards, protecting the man responsible for administering the Afghanistan police. He does not live on a plane, but the guys DO hug and kiss him with their love.
Throughout the day, Payton will often stop what she’s doing and crawl into my arms. “I miss Daddy,” she’ll say.
I hate that she’s hurting, but at the same time, am very relieved that she’s thinking of him. They have such a deep connection and I have feared that over such a long period of time, she may forget him. I should have given her a little more credit. She has forgotten nothing.
After one of these moments, I set her and Ryker up at the table to paint a picture for Daddy. Ryker’s decided that paint? Not as psychedelic in taste as it may appear to be in color.
We wrapped their canvases and jumped into the car to drive to the military base to drop it off. “Going on plane, Momma?”
“No, honey, the guys will take it to him for us. He’s too far away for us to visit, but he will be so happy that you sent him such a beautiful painting. He will put it up in his room and think about you.”
“I see the guys, Momma.”
“Okay sweetie, you can come in with Mommy to drop off the package and see the guys.”
“Daddy too?”
“No, honey, he’s much too far away for us to visit. That’s why we’re sending him something special to show him that we love him.”
“Okay, Momma.”
And into the deployment support center we head, Payton leading the way, pointing into each room ahead as I try to push Ryker in the right direction and carry an awkwardly large and heavy box. “This the guys?”
“No, honey, keep walking.”
“This the guys?”
“No, honey, up here.”
We walk into the room where we need to be and there’s a group of five men talking behind the desk. They immediately jump into action and grab the box from me before I topple over.
“These are the guys, Payton. They’re going to take Daddy’s package to him.”
The guy holding the box bends down to Payton’s level, “Would you like to put it with the other boxes that we’re going to take to Daddy and his friends?”
“Uh huh,” Payton responds, and follows him across the room, where there’s a huge container with tons of other boxes they’re sending out to all of the other soldiers.
“It goes in here and all of these boxes will be sent out to where your Daddy is.”
Payton thinks this over, “I go too. I go with box.”
“No, honey, you can’t go with the box. It’s too far away and Mommy would miss you so much.”
“I go!”
The guy bends down to her level again, “It wouldn’t be very safe for you to go with all of these packages. You’re Mommy’s right, you should stay here with her and your brother.”
Payton and I have a lot of discussions about Daddy being in Afghanistan.
It’s so difficult for her to understand why he’s gone, where he is and when he’s coming home. Hell, it’s difficult for me to understand most days. His return date has been fluctuating anywhere from late October to January and I would SO love hear something, anything, definitive. The unknown is one of the most difficult aspects of this deployment and I can only imagine how Payton feels when it’s ALL unknown to her.
She has determined a few things, since Daddy has left:
“Daddy no safe?”
Oh boy, here we go, “No sweetheart, Daddy’s very safe. He just means that for you to be on a plane without Mommy you wouldn’t be safe.”
“Daddy keep me safe, MOMMA!”
“Yes, he most certainly would, but Daddy won’t be on the plane. They’re putting the boxes on the plane BY THEMSELVES to take to Daddy.”
She is obviously disappointed by this, “Oh.”
We say our goodbyes to the guys and Payton ensures to instruct them to give Daddy hugs and kisses when they see him. How can they not agree to an offer like this. They all promise to give Daddy lots of love.
It’s a quiet ride home and I’m so happy that my sister, their Annie, is over at our house. They all head out back to play on the swing set and Payton hears a plane flying overhead. She looks up, “See Annie? It’s Daddy!”
“I see Payton, there’s a plane.”
She smiles happily, “Daddy see me on the swing. Daddy SEE me.”
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