A Southerners Journey continued

[JimB]

The other thread was getting so big I thought I would start a new one.  
Today was a very hard day. We sent our Son in Law off to Afghanistan today.  It is so hard to send a loved one off  to war.   He is such a good man.  If I picked one out, it would be him.  If i picked a son out it would be him.  He and my daughter love each other so very much.  it broke my heart to see her in such pain today.  
He has already seen the elephant so i am not worried about that.  He is going to a major outpost where there is a lot of roadside bombings and  suicide bomber types.  I was talking to his Colonel and my 8 year old granddaughter piped up and asked him to bring her daddy back safe.  THAT brought the tears to my eyes,  he told her not to worry that was his job and he took it very seriously.  She hugged him and that brought some tears to his eyes.  In all of his deployments, this is the first time that he has had family come to see him off.  I couldnt believe it.  We are planning a huge welcome home party for him.  I want it to be bigger than the wedding. Also hopefully my wife will be here for it too.
Last night I was chatting with her on QQ and she was talking to Bobby.  She was telling him to be safe and take care of himself.  Then my daughter got on then the two of them both started crying.  Very emotional.

After he was gone, we went back to their home.  My ex wife was there and rode with me back to the house.  She then asked to see pictures of my wife and her family.  I couldnt believe it.  She has said before that it was not natural for Americans to marry Chinese. (I know, she was just jealous).  So I showed her our wedding dinner pictures.  She looked at them and  She just said Hmm, uhhuh and she is very pretty.  I told her I only marry beautiful women.  She didnt even laugh at that. I told her I am extremely happy and wished the same for her.  When I packed up to leave she came up and gave me a kiss, I mean a big kiss and said it was good to see me.  I told her thank you and then I told her my wife wants to thanks you for divorcing me so she and I could be so very happy.  ( I Couldnt resist that one).   Then i walked out the door.  It felt good.  Now I will start making amends to her for that.  I want there to be no bad blood so we can all get along on the holidays.  My grandchildren deserve that.

[mustfocus]

The other thread was getting so big I thought I would start a new one.  
Today was a very hard day. We sent our Son in Law off to Afghanistan today.  It is so hard to send a loved one off  to war.   He is such a good man.  If I picked one out, it would be him.  If i picked a son out it would be him.  He and my daughter love each other so very much.  it broke my heart to see her in such pain today.  
He has already seen the elephant so i am not worried about that.  He is going to a major outpost where there is a lot of roadside bombings and  suicide bomber types.  I was talking to his Colonel and my 8 year old granddaughter piped up and asked him to bring her daddy back safe.  THAT brought the tears to my eyes,  he told her not to worry that was his job and he took it very seriously.  She hugged him and that brought some tears to his eyes.  In all of his deployments, this is the first time that he has had family come to see him off.  I couldnt believe it.  We are planning a huge welcome home party for him.  I want it to be bigger than the wedding. Also hopefully my wife will be here for it too.
Last night I was chatting with her on QQ and she was talking to Bobby.  She was telling him to be safe and take care of himself.  Then my daughter got on then the two of them both started crying.  Very emotional.

After he was gone, we went back to their home.  My ex wife was there and rode with me back to the house.  She then asked to see pictures of my wife and her family.  I couldnt believe it.  She has said before that it was not natural for Americans to marry Chinese. (I know, she was just jealous).  So I showed her our wedding dinner pictures.  She looked at them and  She just said Hmm, uhhuh and she is very pretty.  I told her I only marry beautiful women.  She didnt even laugh at that. I told her I am extremely happy and wished the same for her.  When I packed up to leave she came up and gave me a kiss, I mean a big kiss and said it was good to see me.  I told her thank you and then I told her my wife wants to thanks you for divorcing me so she and I could be so very happy.  ( I Couldnt resist that one).   Then i walked out the door.  It felt good.  Now I will start making amends to her for that.  I want there to be no bad blood so we can all get along on the holidays.  My grandchildren deserve that.

Hi Jim,

That's a very touching story.  I do hope your son-in-law comes back safe.  I'm not sure what the sentiment is down there, but up here we are always told that we should always support our soldiers.  We might not agree with why they are always getting sent out, but they are doing as they're told.  We should support them.

How long is he going to be deployed out there?

[shaun]

Jim,

Thanks for sharing. Dang man your making me cry. My son goes for his physical Wednesday in Columbia, SC with the Air Force. He has already taken the ASVAB with a 82 score. He's growing up. I will pray for Bobby when I pray for my son.

Shaun

[Scottish_Rob]

Thanks for sharing that story Jim...Hope he comes back safe..

As for your ex, it's better (take it from someone who knows) being able to talk with her..It's in the past let it go mate:icon_biggrin:

[JimB]

Thanks all. He sent on facebook that he was just going on vacation for a year.  He is going to finish his degree online so he said to just think of it as him going off to college, minus the frat parties. I told him, I have been there and there will be frat parties, lol.

He showed a picture of his plane on his facebook.  he said it was his taxi.  I said, A taxi without a horn, reverse or a rear view mirror, sort of like a chinese taxi except for the horn.

[JimB]

I just got off of QQ with my wife.  it is our 3rd month anniversary.  It doesnt seem like it.  We know each other so well that it seems we have been together for years.  I think the online dating thing is very healthy.  We talk every day, I mean we really talk to each other and share things.  we have been doing this for a year now. Not quite as intimate until we got engaged but very healthy for a relationship.  It seems we have more to talk about now because we save up the days events until we see each other.  So we have things to talk about.  That starts it off then we go from there.  A lot of the time is spent saying i love you, I miss you and I kiss you.  I know in one sense that we are still newlyweds.  There are things about her I do not know yet, I am sure of that.  I am waiting for her language skills to get better so she has a grasp of what I am saying and not having to look it up on the translator, breaking the flow of the conversation.
She was telling me that when she really missed me, she would rub on her wedding ring and it brought me to her.  I do exactly the same thing.  I have a family crisis going on and i am the only one who will take care of it.  No one will help.  We got to talking and we were saying that we should be the priority now.  We are older and do not have that much time together like the kids do.  But, at the end of the day we both know that it is our duty to take care of these things.  She totally understands it.  This will delay my going back there for a little while.  Disappointed but still 100%  behind me. A very supportive wife. I could not ask for one any better than she is.  She always, always thinks of me first.  I think of her first also.  Such a difference from western women.  They usually just think of themselves first.

[Rhonald]

The other thread was getting so big I thought I would start a new one.  

Go ahead and weave an other story with this new thread :icon_cheesygrin:

Thanks for sharring. I hope your Son-in-Law remains safe as well as your webcam marriage being a success. For me it has been 9 months of webcam marriage but only 1 month of wearing the ring. Your comments about twirling the ring brought a smile to my face :icon_biggrin:

[JimB]

You know Rhonald, wedding rings are not that important in China.  Right after we got married she said she was going to take it off because at work, she washes her hands very many times a day and she was afraid of leaving at some sink and it disappearing.  I said ok, but she could tell I was a bit upset about it.  I finally told her of the importance of the ring to me.  She hasnt taken it off since. That is why she thinks of me when she rubs it.

[Vince G]

By the time I do marry it will be 18 years since I had a wedding ring on? It was just a thought I had recent. I wonder if it will feel strange wearing one again?

[JimB]

As a side note. My original ring lost 3 diamonds and busted within a month.  I of course took it back once I got to the States.  He replaced it, but I told him of the sentimental value of the ring.  He also gave the original ring to me.  I told my wife, I would put it on a chain and wear it around my neck.  She suggested another place.........  My nose.  You thought I was going to say something else, didnt you.

Vinny, I think it will probably feel strange to you.