A father's love

I should probably post some darling pictures of Ryan in his Halloween costume. I will likely do so if I can get him to wear it. It's a vintage costume of sorts...my mom bought it a "few" years back for my brother Brian when he was a bit older than Ryan. It's a classic cowboy costume with suede chaps, a suede vest and a dandy red bandana. All we've managed to get Ryan to wear is the vest, but still, it's pretty darn cute.

But what I really want to post about is what I kept thinking about last night as I tossed and turned in bed between the approximate hours of 1:30am to 4:45am.

Several weeks ago, I took a late flight into Charlotte, North Carolina. I had been working about 15 to 18 hour days for the previous week to get ready for the High Point Furniture Market. I landed in Charlotte around 11:30pm, got my luggage and boarded the shuttle to get my rental car.

I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me before I arrived at my destination (an estimated 1:30am ETA) and I was already exhausted.

As I sat on the rental car shuttle, the only other passenger started up a conversation (which I DREAD when I'm traveling...I know what you're thinking, I've become one of those snobby business travelers...well, you wouldn't be that wrong, but don't judge!).

Anyway, he began by telling me how he had just dropped off his daughter at college that morning and then his flight from New York got cancelled. The story was a bit confusing, but I understood that he ended up in Charlotte instead of his intended destination in Jacksonville.

After he landed in Charlotte, he called rental car company after rental car company with no luck. He finally found an available van and was going to get it and then drive through the night through Jacksonville.

 It was a bit of a long-winded story and I tried to be interested and ask questions here and there, but I was too tired to care much and I expect I was a bit cranky.

 

But then I asked why he was driving through the night to get to Jacksonville and his answer brought instant tears to my eyes.  "To say good-bye to my son before he leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow."

 

I felt horrible.  A few minutes earlier I was hoping he would let me close my eyes for a few minutes before I began my 1.5 hour drive.  But now I was teary as I asked him about his son.  It was his second deployment.  He had suffered an injury during his first deployment in Iraq several years ago.  He was in a convoy and the tank ahead of him was bombed and in the crazy aftermath of the bomb, he broke his leg.

 

He had come home long enough to heal and now he was headed back. 

 

And here was his dad, doing EVERYTHING he could to fly, drive, I even think he would walk all the way to Jacksonville just to hug his boy and tell him he loved him.

 

I wanted to do something for this man.  I wanted to do something for his son.  But what could I do?  If I had enough notice I would have booked him a flight using my miles, but it was too late.  I didn't have but two dollars in my wallet otherwise I would have given him some cash.

 

So I just told him my trick for staying awake while driving through the night.  Coke Zero and sunflower seeds.  Really?!  That was my offering to this man?  I'm embarrassed to even write that.

 

But as I wished him well as we departed, I told him with tears in my eyes to thank his son for all of us.

 

And then I did the best thing I knew how.  I prayed and asked for peace and protection for this loving father and his son.