solace in certainty

chad travels often for music, his job. music has opened so many doors for him to do awesome things, see awesome places, meet awesome people. to be honest, i am a bit jealous. but more than anything, when he is gone i miss him. i miss him so much. yes, i function fine on my own and don't need his presence to ensure my own personal well being, but i miss his company. i miss how he makes me laugh, although most times we are mutually laughing at my own clumsiness or ditzy comment. i miss burning the food i attempt to cook for him. i miss watching him play guitar; i love watching him have do what he loves. i am proud of him. i miss his insight, maturity and persistence to pursue a righteous way of life in a world that makes it seem out of the norm. i miss enjoying our friends together. i miss him yelling at me for interrupting movies with my line of questioning that always includes a "did you see that?"

my office mate, pam, also misses someone she loves. but her aches of absence are different. her son is in afghanistan doing something many of us would tremble at the simple thought. i know when chad will come home but when pam said goodbye to her son, she was offered no guarantee of his homecoming. her son has no bed to sleep on, no phone or internet access through which to tell his mom that he loves her. there are men, in close proximity of pam's son, who want him dead. knowing all of that, somehow makes missing chad not hurt so much.