A little glimpse
I had to re-schedule my acupuncture appointment for today.
With everything going on, I didn’t think I’d be able to lay there, focus and relax for an entire hour.
I kind of had a feeling it was going to be a weird day because I started off the morning by punishing myself and watching a sad YouTube video. In Jenna’s post, she mentioned her friend Ashley [side note: if you ever link to a friend, I will click the link and check out their blog -I love finding new ones] and was scrolling through to read her previous posts. She had a powerful September 11th tribute, which included a video. I watched it, and wept as the man over the phone was telling the 9-1-1 operator that he had young kids and didn’t want to die. It broke my heart, in an entirely new way, because now my husband will have his own little one(s).
I was going to go to base this morning to workout, but instead decided to wait and see if we could take Bell for a long walk tonight instead. So I dilly-dallied around the house, and then went to a friend’s house for playgroup.
There were tons of adorable babies, an amazing group of new moms and moms-to-be (I learned SO MUCH from them- more on that in an upcoming post) and yorkies, one of whom called dibs on the Boppy.
His name is T-bone and I wanted to dognap him.
I was chatting with two girls I’ve known since we were in Valdosta together, enjoyed a plate of fruit, and yet I suddenly could feel my blood sugar dropping. The room started the spin as I started to feel extremely warm and see spots. I’ve fainted before, and knew I was on the verge, so I went into the powder room and splashed water on my face, trying to cool off. I went outside to get some fresh air and couldn’t see colors- it was like everything was spotty and black and white. I carefully walked back inside, grabbed my friend Kelly (a nurse) and told her I was seeing spots. “Sit down!! I don’t want you to faint. Let’s get you some juice.” She handed me a glass of orange juice, which I finished off, and almost immediately felt better.
Except, I still felt weird.
I took the picture of T-bone on the Boppy and saw 4 missed calls from Tom. It’s not unusual for him to call me more than once, since I lose my phone so often, and I figured I could just catch up with him when I left.
Then the other girls’ phones started to ring and beep.
“Turn on the news- channel 4.”
We all scurried over to the TV, expecting the worse, and then eventually learned that the base was on lockdown.
Immediately, I called Tom- he answered right away.
He told me something was going on that he couldn’t talk about, that everyone was ok (he promised), and to stay away from base, since no one was allowed to get on or leave. From watching the news, we later found out that it was a civilian shooter.
Anytime before 6 months ago, I would have politely said goodbye to the girls, cried the entire way home and stayed here, glued to the news until Tom was back. But instead, for the baby, I took a deep breath and tried to remain as calm as possible, even though I wanted to go into serious freak-out mode. I think it may have been my first glimpse of what being a mom must feel like. I stayed to hang out with everyone, and we distracted ourselves by talking about baby carriers and cloth diapers.
This whole time I’ve been so focused on how happy and thankful I am that Tom is here with me during the pregnancy, and not deployed, but today really made me double-take on how lucky I am to have him just in my life, in general. Deployed or not deployed, just safe and alive… my husband.
We’ve said a lot of “I missed you”s “see ya later”s and “goodbyes”… and every time he comes home from work, I hug him like I haven’t seen him in a week.
Tonight’s going to be even more intense.
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Glad to hear he’s ok!
Omg Gina I’m so glad he’s okay! I can’t even imagine how terrifying that must have been!! I’m so glad you were surrounded by others in the same situation so you could all help keep each other calm!
Gina,
One of my NH friends’ sister (whom I’ve never met but we follow each other’s blogs) just wrote to me saying that she saw a photo of a dog on a blog and she thinks the dog is mine. Well, I had to check it out, thinking maybe T-Bone has a twin out there somewhere, and lo and behold! it’s your blog! lol. I didn’t even know you had one. Anyway, I thought it was so funny that it’s such a small world for someone in MA to be following your blog and to actually “know” (although not in person) me and T-Bone.
This is Katie’s blog, in case you don’t already have the link. Do you guys know each other or of each other?
http://katie-loves.blogspot.com/
Thanks for coming over yesterday! It was great to see you again, this time with a bump! 😉
hey girl!
that’s so crazy! hope you don’t mind that i posted a picture of him 🙂
thanks again for having us over yesterday and for teaching me so much about cloth diapers. i’m totally on board now!
see you soon <3
xoxo
also, i haven’t read katie’s blog yet, but i’m excited to check it out!!
It’s amazing how things change when you have your own kids. That video is heartbreaking. Glad your Hubby is ok.
thank you- i’m excited to keep reading your blog 🙂
Omg, so glad he is okay! I can’t even imagine how scared you were! Hugs!
Wow. So grateful your pilot is ok. People are so crazy. That just pisses me off. A civilian shooter on a base?! ARgh! As if our troops haven’t sacrificed enough while fighting overseas–now they become targets for lunatics at home on base. Good for you for remaining calm. That is a tough pill to swallow. Glad everyone is ok
Glad he is okay. Good job keeping calm. I don’t know if I could have done that!
Wow. I’ve been reading your blog for awhile but this is the first time I’ve posted a comment. Thank God you didn’t go to the base to workout. I completely related with this post. While I have no children of my own (yet), I do have a Kindergarten class of 31. It’s my first year teaching and I am often amazed by the things I find myself capable of doing for those kiddos. Last week a bee flew into our classroom. Of course my normal reaction would of been to run out of the room, but I had to be the one to remain calm. I managed to catch the bee in a plastic container and release him outside without any freaking out on my part. The kids stayed relatively calm as well. I felt quite proud of myself that day. I realize my bee story is nowhere near the same freakout level as yours and I am so glad that all is well. You and the pilot are so lucky to have each other. The love you two share for each other is so apparent on your blog. Anyway, thank you for sharing these bits and pieces of your life with us. It’s what keeps me coming back to your blog. And a big thank you to the pilot (and to you as well, Gina) for the sacrifices he has made in his life to ensure the safety and freedom of his fellow citizens. I am forever grateful to the service men and women (and their families) of our great country.
So glad that everyone is okay. Best wishes. <3
So scary…I can’t even imagine. You are a very brave woman! Glad everyone is ok.
It’s so true! When you have a baby things change in so many ways. You realize how much your husband means to you on a whole different level! Also, even if you loved children before your maternal instincts kick in hard core. I’ve always been empathic, but now I am so deeply saddened when parents encounter difficult situations. It breaks my heart!! 🙁
And thank goodness he is okay!! It must have been so traumatic for you! 🙁