Life

Well, life is changing for my family as we speak. For the last several months my grandma, mom's mom, has been sick and in and out of the hospital with serious problems. The time came last week for her to enter the hospital one last time. Right now my mom and her siblings are at my grandma's side with her while we wait on God to take her home. It has been a difficult time for all of us. I am about to face a year long deployment to Afghanistan and was afraid this day would come after I left. Now it appears she will be headed "home" any moment now. I am glad that I will be here for this bitter sweet moment. We all wish the suffering she is going through would come to an end so she can be at peace. I said my goodbyes to her in Dec when we thought that was it. I have not been able to get back to see her, but I will be there for the final farewell. My family is in need of your prayers.

As I am preparing for these multiple changes, I welcomes more changes to my life. Sonya, a very good friend, is going to live in my house for me while I am gone and has started moving in. I am glad that I have a friend I can trust and is willing to do this for me.

I am also taking my first real vacation in years. I am going to Destin, FL for the first in my life for a week and looking forward to it. Can't wait to sit on the beach, go deep sea fishing, and finally relax before there is nonstop work in Afghanistan.

We were informed last week we are not going to the safest place in Afghan. They went as far as to tell us that everyone will not come home. It is a sad truth and we all know the reality of it. We know that we will be in a dangerous place, but we all know what we signed up for. I love my job and there is not another job I would be doing. It is never the same thing for long. People thank me all the time. Well the thank yous go to those that support us and the wonderful people out there that realize what we do. I don't do this for attention, I do it for my family and my country.

My brain is all the place right now. So many things that are going on in life right now and so many things to share, but I am focused on my family right now and the situation with my grandma.

You expect to see a lot more posts on here starting in the next couple months. There will be a lot of "I can tell you, but I will have to kill you" stories. Expect a lot good stories though. The reality of the deployment is starting to hit and I am ready to go. My bags are pack, a month early.

Thanks again to all those that follow us on here. God bless you all!!

SGT John Strader