The List

He came down on orders for Korea.  It would be the last time he’d have to leave us.  He would come back here and finish the last 2 ½ years and retire.   We’d get to be a family again.  I’d be his first wife since the Army always takes precedence.  Here is the list of what followed.

1. He received his orders for Korea.
   
2. The transmission in the van went out.
   
3. It took 6 weeks to repair
   
4. The truck engine blew
   
5. The repair shop could not find the fault code so they sent it to the dealership.
   
6. An RV backed into it at the dealership.
   
7. The dealership could not find the fault code.
   
8. We had to sell the useless truck.
   
9. I got a serious staph infection.
   
10. My cat died.
    
11. The gym, my second home, closed.
    
12. The dryer burned up.
    
13. He left.
    
14. I lost the turtle outside.  He’s free now.
    
15. The fish died.
    
16. I found the weightlifting center.  A new hobby.
    
17. The radiator hose busted in the van.
    
18. We were rear-ended by a trash truck.
    
19. It took 6 weeks to repair the van.
    
20. We got head lice.
    
21. I got an eye infection during the head lice removal, making it hard to see.
    
22. We had a critter in the attic.
    
23. I had to get a new phone earlier than planned.  The old one wouldn’t make calls.
    
24. He came home for R&R.
    
25. We got kittens.  Two kittens.  
    
26. He didn’t hear the critter once during those 21 days.
    
27. He left.
    
28. I called an animal expert.  We had rats in our attic.
    
29. I had to remove one of the rats with a friend.
    
30. My ID Card expired.
    
31. He got promoted.
    
32. I grated my thumb in a cheese grater the night before the weightlifting meet.
    
33. I attended my first weightlifting meet.
    
34. I realized I was suffering from depression.
    
35. I bought a new wallet and it was stolen 3 weeks later.
    
36. I had to get a new ID card.  And license.  And credit cards.  And a new wallet.
    
37. Our oldest started having problems at school.  Her grades were failing.
    
38. Our oldest was battling depression.
    
39. Our youngest child had to have a procedure done because of gagging.
    
40. The youngest child developed Shingles.
    

1. The transmission started slipping again in the van.
   
2. One of the kittens developed an infection from the spay procedure.
   
3. We found termites in the shed.
   
4. I bought a new truck.
   
5. The oldest child’s 4th grade teacher informed the class she was moving—our daughter was devastated.
   
6. The youngest child was diagnosed with asthma.
   
7. The youngest child had a stomach virus on the last week of school.
   
8. My friend developed a gall bladder infection while her husband was gone, so we had to juggle her and our collective 4 children.
   
9. His flight was canceled.
   
10. The youngest child vomited over the entire bathroom 4 hours before his plane was scheduled to arrive.
    
11. His plane landed.  We hugged our soldier.
    
12. The youngest child vomited all over the brand new truck as soon as we pulled out of the airport parking lot.  Welcome Home!
    

1. He got orders for another deployment.
   

This is the list of things I can remember that happened during his year in Korea.  It was a crazy year.  I learned, cried, leaned, sobbed, laughed, growled, grew, hid, detached, shared, and loved this year.  
I fondly call it “The Korea Year.”