A couple times a year I have to travel for work. One trip requires me to be away from my own bed for twelve days. I hate living out of a suit case, wondering if I packed enough or the right clothes. It gets old eating fast food while traveling, but I enjoy the horses.
Last week my brother-in-law came home from work.
He never has to worry about setting an alarm clock. He often goes days without sleeping. He spends most days walking to and from where he needs to be for work, often traveling miles every day. He works out strategic plans from a mud hut in a remote village. He isn't allowed a phone and often goes weeks without any communication back home.
He also travels for work. But he is gone for ten months or more at a time. He sleeps on the ground and uses what ever he can find to rest his head. He is lucky to get a shower every three weeks. The only clothes he worries about is the Kevlar suit he wears underneath. He eats boiled goat every day and would give anything for a Big Mac.
My brother-in-law just came home last week after another tour in Afghanistan.
He's a US Marine and I am so proud of him.
He makes great sacrifices for our country - not just risking his own life every day.
He gives up sitting in gridlock traffic on his commute to work each day. He gives up watching golf on Sundays and football on Monday nights. He forgoes ski trips in the winter and BBQ's in the summer.
He sacrifices laying next to his wife each night and kissing her good morning each day. He misses first steps, first words and birthdays. He comes home to little faces who don't remember him but know he is called Daddy.
I am proud of my brother-in-law and relieved he is once again home.
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