AFGHANISTAN TO AUGUSTA

I spoke to my oldest son Mike yesterday, for the first time in several months.  He had just returned to his home in Augusta, GA, reuniting with his wife Amy, their dog, and 2 cats.  He had just spent almost 4 months in Afghanistan.  We talked for about an hour, and it sure was a good feeling to know that he was home safe & sound.   This was his second assignment in a country that we've being pouring blood and treasure into for over 10 years, and I hope this was his last deployment. 

Working in the intelligence community, under the National Security Agency, Mike felt that his job this time actually made a difference.  Due to his top secret security clearance, he never gets into specifics about his responsibilities, but despite working 12 hour days, 7 days a week for almost 4 months, he felt good about his contribution toward keeping our troops out of harms way as much as possible.  I'm so very proud of his accomplishments as a career Army Officer, and now, his 2nd career working as a civilian government employee.  With all of the vacation & comp time that he has accumulated, he and Amy were about to jump in their Corvette, and head for a rented cabin in the Georgia mountains.  You deserve some down time Mike, so just kick back, and relax a bit.  Save some of that vacation time for a trip out here to Arizona in the fall.