Alaska and the great beyond...

My Sister Sarah is in the Coast Guard. Since 2000 she has been stationed in Cape Cod, MA at 2 separate bases. During the last 8 years she has bought a house, had a son, and has gotten pretty "settled". Sarah is 5 years younger than me and honestly still a "kid" in eyes. Mind you she is 28 but that is just a minor detail. Well... she got orders to Alaska. Yeah... As you can imagine she was pretty shocked. Juneau, Alaska was the VERY BOTTOM of her "wish list".

Well it gets crazier... Her husband and she decided to NOT sell their house. In Fact my brother in law and my nephew are staying in Cape Cod. wow.. that's what I said. Her tour is suppose to be for 3 years UNLESS she makes Chief. Now be prepared because there are a lot of "maybes" in here..

The Chief list came out today.. she is #10. That's GREAT.. they usually take about 25-30 for rank advancement. BUT she doesn't find out until after Christmas. IF she makes Chief she will get a new Wish List for her NEW rank... Which means by this time next year she "could" be right back in Cape Cod. As there will be a Chief position open there. Are you following?? Totally confusing right?

I agree!!! So last Saturday, my sister, nephew, and brother in law drove off the Cape and started the trek West. They made it to Seattle, WA by Wednesday evening. Amazing time if you ask me! This morning my sister had the gut wrenching task of hugging her husband and son goodbye as they boarded the plane "home". She will not see them again until the end of October, 5 months from now. As a Mom that is forever! She does have a laptop w/ a web cam. BUT physically not being able to hug your child is something I cannot even wrap my brain around. God Bless her cause I could not do it. (and here I am stressing over leaving my family for 3 weeks in Africa, shame on me)!!!

My sister is not a Christian. I say this because I "personally" think it's important and gives some understanding on things. There is no "church" family to support her or her son / husband.

Please keep my sister in your prayers. This could be an awesome adventure for her. I pray she takes the time to truly find her heart. To do things she might never do again, to explore, to dream, and find excitement.

I also hope that this time away might actually be good for us. Maybe we can reconnect.. via e-mail. Maybe she will start a blog about her adventure, her struggles, and her joys.

I'll keep you posted on her adventure....