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Personal Narrative: My Trip To Panama

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Personal Narrative: My Trip To Panama
IS DAD COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS?
In August, 1989,my Tech-Sergeant -husband, Dennis had just received orders to Howard Air Force Base, Panama. we were excited about the move. Gadding about Central America visiting the Panama Canal, and learning Spanish were some of the adventures that we envisioned doing. That was until we discovered his tour was unaccompanied; meaning Dennis would be leaving us behind; our joy was immediately deflated. This was especially worrisome for our sons, Russell, 12 and Patrick, 10
The day arrived for Dennis to leave for Panama; we drove him to Dover Air Force Base, a two- hour trek from our home in Elkton, MD. As he boarded the bus to the flight line where he would take a C-130 transport to Panama, my heart sank. Not only was my best friend flying a world away into unknown danger, our children were suffering terribly. As we said our good byes, their eyes filled with tears. They kept telling their dad that they didn’t want him to go. He told them it was his job and he had to go but maybe he could come home for Christmas in a few months. After we all hugged him one last time, They stood there, eyes fixed on the blue Air Force bus until it disappeared from sight- then the tears came from all three of us. Our trip home was silent except for the hum of the car engine. Separation is …show more content…
All hell brook loose. The Parent-Teacher meeting was negative. Russell was getting into mischief at school. He wouldn’t obey the teacher and talked back to her, something he’d never done before. Patrick wasn’t turning in his homework, he wouldn’t obey the teacher, he wasn’t paying attention in class. They both rebelled. Homework was another struggle. They lollygagged with their homework, and we all struggled because I was unable to help them with their math homework. I always stunk at math. Dennis a math major easily helped them with their
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