The night before Micheal left was a crazy, but beautiful day. We just spent as much time holding on to him as we possibly could! I think we may have let him have two bathroom breaks all day! On the morning of it consisted of alot of him going back and forth to work. The first time was to just "check in" and make sure everyone was accounted for. When he got back we all had breakfast and the girls gave him a foot and shoulder massage! We had just shaved his head and AnnMarie said daddy can I put some lotion on your head? he said sure go ahead! It was like a mini pamper hour for dad before he left! :)
We then left to take his gear to the trucks to load it up. Here are just a few pictures of loading the gear.
After the gear was loaded, we left and grabbed a bite to eat where Gracie out of no where had all these questions about daddy's deployment, he answered all of her questions and this was the face he got
During lunch we also realized that Ann-Marie had treated daddy to his massage with the princess sparkle lotion. His freshly shaved head was sprakling like the North Star!
Soon after lunch we headed back to the gym where we waited for about 1 1/2 hours before the guys actual left for deployment. While we were waiting, they had pizza and snacks for the families and these sweet teddy bears for the girls
Angel seem to be sticking rather close to her daddy and my side today, at about 5:10 we all went outside to get stuff ready for them to get on the buses at 545. Micheal's C.O.'s family was close to us when we went outside and his little girl (Molly)started getting teary eyed which got her mom teary eyed. Ann-Marie then realized it was almost time for Micheal to go and she latched onto him so tight I don't think he could breathe! A few short min later Gracie latched on as well. Angel grabbed me and said mama lets stay over here I don't want to cry. I told her it was ok to cry, but that it was also ok not to cry. She stood strong just like always (definitely gets that from her daddy!) Our sweet AnnMarie at this point was crying so hard she couldn't breathe and shortly after that Gracie was just as bad. Micheal looked at me and I swear I have never felt such pain in my life! I could see how hurt he was that he was having to leave his girls knowing there was nothing he could do to take away that pain. I don't think either of us have ever felt so helpless. He suggested he walk us to the truck and we go ahead and leave before the buses arrive to take them. We both knew it was best for the girls . He walked us to the truck and it took all I had to pry Ann-Marie and Gracie from him. While they were still hugging him I noticed Angel had jumped into the truck. I opened the door and asked her if she was ok and with the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen she said Mama I want to give my daddy a hug! I told her to jump out and go get one! It was heartbreaking! Between the please daddy's i don't want you to go and the Daddy I love you more than anythings, we managed to get a few more hugs and kisses in. I had every intention of getting photos so family could see the departure but it was all to heartbreaking. I couldn't stand the thought of any of us having to relive the pain in pictures! The girls were finally in the truck and I hugged him one last time, I told him how proud we all are of him and how much he means to all of us! He hugged me tight , told me he loved me and to go ahead and go so we weren't late for church. He rounded the corner and then a few sec. later peeked back around blew us a kiss and said I love you! Leaving him there even just 15 min before the buses left was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Knowing that I could of had just another 15 min with him. But in letting him do this I know the girls were calmer and Micheal was able to get his barring before he spoke to and loaded up his Marines. The girls and I sat there for about 5 more min sobbing and all of the sudden it was quiet. I said is everyone ok? Gracie wiped her eyes and said yep I think that'll do it Mama...we are ready to roll...they all looked back as we left the parking lot searching for their daddy, I couldn't dare look back. From this moment on I had to look forward, I had just survived the hardest part of this deployment, the goodbye.
