It is going on 4 weeks since my trip on the USS Lincoln.  The question is if this truly was my trip of a life time?  To be such a life event, then something should have changed in my life.  Well there has been changes.  I made a couple of friends.  A parent and a wife of crew members on the USS Lincoln. 

The parent’s daughter is a nuclear engineer on the Lincoln.  This parent, is so proud of his daughter that he thinks the world of her.  (I guess as any dad would).  Yet the sacrifice he gives to us Americans is the most generous gift.  His daughter’s husband is on another aircraft carrier and she will see her husband for only 60 days in 2010.  Again sacrifice and dedication for us Americans.

The wife’s husband is a shooter.  That is he guides the pilots off of the aircraft carrier on the catapult.  It is his job to keep everyone on that aircraft launch site safe.  What a high stress job.  He has three girls and when home this rugged guy is a plain softie.  His wife is a photographer, hence a connection to me.  She does some wonderful work, you can check it out here: http://www.jenniferlikes.com/ .  Yet in the coming 8 plus months, dad will not be with his young daughters as they grow 8 months older.  Jennifer’s personal blog is so touching because it tells the story of sacrifice better than I could ever do.  http://thelikesfamily.blogspot.com/2010/05/thirty-days.html

This week the USS Lincoln came back to port for a few weeks before and 8 month deployment.  I received emails from both the Father and Wife within three hours of each other on Wednesday.

Yea, my life has changed.