My 100th post, and hopefully a memorable one

I’ve been sitting here, getting lost in a new artist, and contemplating the fact that I’ve been away from my family for 10 weeks now. Ten weeks of my wife’s and my pup’s lives that I’ll never get back. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea — I’m not complaining about my situation. Plenty of people have it worse than I do. But I’ve come to appreciate the little things, like being able to sit and talk with my wife, or being able to watch my puppy go from a tiny little thing to a bonafide mini-beast.

Honestly, it’s March 1, 2009. I started work here on Dec. 16, 2008. Because I’ve been working so hard, it really hasn’t seemed that long. It’s seemed like a blur. But the days I have off, the time that I have to myself, my mind always drifts back to Alexandria and I get depressingly sad and alone that I am not with my family.

So, tonight, I felt compelled to write — not a love song to my wife, but just an honest take on my current situation. I have no idea what’s going to flow out of my heart and mind, but I do know it will be true and it will be real. It might even be shocking. I hope you enjoy.

Where’s it all gone — the days, the hours, the minutes?
It’s all a blur, happening so fast and passing me by
A week here, a month there, gone just like a flash
Like a lightning bolt that lights up the night sky

The sun rises, the sun sets and on and on it goes
Just as when it was all set in motion years ago
Oh, how I long for those days of innocence and youth
When it all seemed to pass by and drag on so slow

Sometimes, I think I forgot what it’s like to feel
What it’s like to hurt, to miss, to desire, to cry
The emotions of yesteryear that I’d lost along the way
Well up within my soul and are no longer dry

I look around at all the many beautiful sights
Surrounding me here in this newfound place
But all this splendor simply pales in comparison
To home sweet home and her beautiful face

Seventy-seven days, they come they go
Can’t get ‘em back, even though I try
Seventy-seven days, forever in the past
Blow them away and say goodbye

Plenty’s been written about peace and about joy
Find them in all seasons, through everything
Another cliché, it’s easier said than done
But again, I know, it’s all in God’s timing

I’m so far from perfect, that much I can admit
Struggles arise and sometimes the sins win
That’s the wonderful thing about grace, though
We’re allowed to move on, start over and grin

It’s not easy; in fact, it’s tougher every day
No joke, the ache grows within me more and more
I miss you, I want you, I need you, gotta have you
The great thing is that’s what He has in store

Life will eventually get back to normal
And return to the way it once was in the past
We’ll be together again, a family once again
It will be sweeter, and we’ll enjoy as it lasts

Seventy-seven days, when will they end?
I surely don’t want seventy-seven more
Seventy-seven days, not in my control
I will endure, with my knees on the floor