Ambivalence

Tomorrow, around 9:00am, I will set out for Houston to start my new job. Because of the living arrangements that I mentioned in my last post, it will be a life changing event. My wife and I have been married for 38 years. We have had to spend time apart before but nothing like this. It is going to be hard on both of us because we are still crazy about each other.

However, each time I start feeling sorry for myself and my wife, I think of two things:

1. There are a lot of unemployed people out there that would love to have a job, even in another city. It only took me 3 months to find a job. My daughter, a highly skilled scientist with a degree from a top university, has been looking for 8 months. Therefore, I am blessed.

2. In the next few months, 30,000 more young men and women will be leaving their homes to go to Afghanistan. They do not know when they will see their families again or even if they will survive the conflict. Compared to what these people have to face, my situation is nothing. I hope that every one of them comes home safely in 2011, as the President stated, but I fear this will not be the case.

I will be able to come home from time to time since I still have a lot of airmiles. We will survive this challenge just like we have survived all the rest - we will count on love.