Missing the little things

One of the hardest part of being away, whether you are a non-custodial parent or traveling or serving your country, it really does not matter, the hardest part of being away is missing the little things that only happen once in our children's lives. Ball games, proms, dates, broken arms, weddings, you name it, you miss it. It never gets easy. It is always difficult to miss the events that are important to you and to them.

Many times I missed ball games for my son, I would call and ask about the game and I could hear in his voice that he missed me being there. "Why weren't you there daddy?" and regardless of the reason, all he knew was that I missed it. "I won the pageant" my daughter would say, and I knew that another opportunity was gone.

There are no comforting words to help us deal with these things. The best I can do for myself is to know that I attend all events I can, I seldom miss recitals, and pageants, I try and not miss ball games if they are on a weekend. But I do miss some, I miss many. The reasons are many. But what they cannot realize is that it hurts us just as much to miss these opportunities. They are not the only ones missing us being there.

Hang in there, do what you can, and be comfortable knowing that the time you do have with them is precious and do not waste it. Try and enjoy every minute and hope and pray they will one day understand.