Introducing... Charli!!

Charli is just the most wonderful little doggie in the whole wide world! John wanted to get me an actual Shih-tzu puppy for a wedding gift, but because of the craziness of him going to Iraq and everything he thought it would be better to wait. So instead he gave me a stuffed puppy dog (which turned out to look surprising like Miss Charli) along with a framed letter telling me he wants me (us) to have a puppy so that I will have something to keep my company while he was gone for the year.

During our time in Kansas, I purchased a baby name book and started trying to pick out a name for my little angel to be. I knew I wanted a girl so I made a list of girl names I liked and John helped me pick one out. He liked the name Charli a lot (John picked out the spelling, too). I thought it would be somewhat sentimental as well because John was part of "Charlie" Company 2/70th Armor during his tour in Iraq.

The night before John left I called my mom to get the latest word on what puppies were being listed in the local newspaper. She said she was actually on her way to look at one right now because they had ONE little girl left in the litter. She instantly fell in love with the puppy and told me if I didn't get it, she was because she put a deposit on it to hold it for me until I saw it myself. Of course I didn't care and told her I would take the dog without even seeing it for myself. So the plan was laid out: Mom and Kyle would fly to Kansas and help me pack the Uhaul with John's things and we would make the drive to Alabama together. After arriving in AL, I would go get the dog.

Mom had a better idea though. She and Kyle were in John's truck pulling the Uhaul, and I was in my car. About an hour from arriving at our house in Huntsville, Mom called my cell phone and told me that Kyle wasn't feeling well. They were going to stop at a gas station and for me to just go on to the house since they were so close. About an hour after I got home, they finally showed up. I figured my brother must have gotten pretty sick. Besides, he came in the door and ran straight to the bathroom. I was sitting on the floor in my room sorting through all the stuff I had to unpack and my mom and dad came to sit in there with me and see how I was holding up now that I was officially back home without John. Kyle comes out of the bathroom and says, "Man! Amanda, I just took the biggest (excuse the fowl language) sh*t ever. Wanna see it?"-- Ummmmm, excuse me?? Gross! But to my surprise instead he whips out a tiny little "shih-tzu" puppy! It was such an unexpected and welcomed surprise. My mom was right. She said she knew when I got home, it would all hit me that John was gone and I was here again, alone. She thought a puppy would be a nice distraction and boy was she right.

John was also correct in his thinking that Charli would keep me company when he was gone. She quickly became so dear to me! I did several different clicker training classes with her, we went on walks all the time, I made bows for her hair and bought her outfits! I even had a little purse and I would carry her around with me everywhere. She kept me sane (although you may be disagreeing with that statement now after reading about the bows and clothes I got her)!! :)

Saying goodbye...

After being married only 18 days, I had to say goodbye to John on June 17, 2004 and send him off to Iraq for a year. The days following our wedding were very busy! We stayed in Huntsville together for another several days before loading up and driving back out to John's apartment in Junction City, Kansas. That little apartment was technically our first home together. There were 3 pieces of furniture in the entire apartment. John had a "hand-me-down" couch that I was allergic to. We had to put sheets over it to keep me from getting an itchy rash. The previous owner probably had a dog. The other pieces of furniture included a $27 desk John was very proud of and a plastic, garage-type chest of drawers. His bed was an air mattress and his coffee table, end tables, and TV stand were all those blue plastic Rubbermaid storage bins. Of course this wasn't my idea of what it would be like to finally be a wife and get to "play house" for real!!! But, we adjusted and I knew it was only temporary.

In Kansas, John was very busy every day with work. They would work from early in the morning until late in the evening making all the final preparations for the deployment. The day before he left, John got promoted to 1st LT and I was able to come and pin on his new rank. If my memory serves me correctly, we drove through the Burger King that was connected to the gas station the night before he left.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and got ready, almost in silence because what can you really talk about when you know what is coming next. John stopped off at the ATM to get some cash and we drove on post. We parked in the parking lot and unloaded his equipment from the car and brought it over to be loaded on the trucks. And then John walked me back over to the car and we hugged and talked for a minute or two before saying goodbye to each other. It was such an awkward feeling to get in my car and watch him walk away from me. It was even weirder to have to drive away knowing that John was still there. I cried for a bit, but tried to hold it together. I then picked up my cell phone and called Lynsey and we talked the rest of the way home, which was great for getting my mind off of things.

Life must go on. You can only cry for so long... The first few days are the hardest, but you eventually adjust and get used to the new "routine." Of course you think about it everyday, but you don't cry as much as time goes by. Besides, December would be here before I knew it and John would be coming home for his 2 weeks of leave.