Grandfathers

Neil finished packing up his gear this morning, got his weapon, and got in line to leave Ft Benning. Apparently it was a hurry up and wait kind of day. He carried a backpack on his chest, a ruck sack filled with text books on his back (A ruck sack is a larger version of a back pack, from what I hear) and, on each shoulder, a full duffle bag that is about as tall as Zach. One of our friends, Kim, was deployed last year, and I have a hard time imagining how she carried the same amount of stuff! Regardless, he has to carry his own luggage everywhere and sit with it whenever he has to wait in a line.

Anyway, they rode a bus to Atlanta and boarded the plane there. The flight across the Atlantic will take longer than normal due to the hurricane parked off the coast of Georgia. He heard they will be going around it. I think it's interesting that they have to actually say that. As if they would consider flying through it?

I got to speak with him a few times today, and it was surreal to think that he was heading off to war. That he was going to get off of the plane across the planet from us. Luckily he's been to Kuwait before, so it's not completely "The Unknown", but still. We talked about how he was doing what each of our 4 grandfathers did so many years ago. Minus the iphone.

We should get to talk with him on Sunday, sometime, depending on the time difference and our schedules.