Tuesday was family day. We sat through briefings on Tricare medical coverage, pay, coping skills, and other family type subjects.
Today (Wednesday) was filled with briefings about our unit, it's higher headquarters, and the global mission. It was interesting stuff, but a consistent feature was a torrent of acronyms that left us all wondering what we were talking about.
The family came over with me on Monday. They sat through the briefings on Tuesday. This morning, we woke up, showered, and came down for breakfast. After breakfast I said goodbye and went off to the briefings. The family returned home.
I went on an unaccompanied tour to Saudi Arabia for a year in the mid 90's. The kids were little then. I thought that was hard, but it's much harder now. The oldest will graduate and start college this year - and I'll miss it. The middle one will be close to graduation when I get back and the youngest will have his driver's license.
I love them all and miss them already.