Telephone Romeo...

I woke up at midnight to my phone vibrating from an e-mail from Charlie. I e-mailed him back as quick as I could in hopes that he just might call... and he did! We got to chat for a whole 15 minutes! It was so good to hear his voice and know he was doing well. He can write all the e-mails telling me he's doing good, but nothing is like hearing it in his voice. It was so nice to chat with him, we caught up on lots of random stuff! Apparently his dog, Robbie, does not like to fly and had an upset tummy for the first couple days and had to sleep outside alone, which he also didn't like, he barked all night long. If you've met Robbie you know he has severe ADHD as well as even worse separation anxiety, so sleeping outside alone while the other dogs and marines were inside did not make him very happy!

Charlie said he's stationed at a temporary place for now. They are in the process of replacing the team of dogs and handlers that are currently on base there, and in the interim they are at their temporary location. He says its nice, they have 5 guys to a room and the dogs stay with them. Right now they are just getting training on the ins and outs of "going off wire" or going on missions. He thinks missions will start later this week or next. In the meantime they have their classes, the gym, work with the dogs, and continue to get all settled. I asked him about the weather over there, he said its a typical desert, hot during the day and cold at night. He also said that the only thing he forgot was a shower towel, but he could always use more of Dad's jerky!

Charlie is doing well and he sounds happy, and he's excited to be where he's at and to use the training he has received. I know he's in a scary place with hostile people, but I try, for him, not to let it worry me. We talked a lot before he left about me worrying, and he straight up asked me not to worry, not to think about all of the scary stuff, b/c all of that scary stuff is out of my hands, its out of his hands, and its decided by someone higher up. He asked me not to worry b/c it doesn't do anyone any good, it would upset me being pessimistic and thinking of all the worst case scenarios, and me being upset and scared and worrying would weigh him down so much. So far I have not let my mind even wander to the pessimistic side of things. I have been able to keep a positive attitude and a smile on my face. I look forward to every e-mail and try to make sure he always wakes up to a new piece of reading material from me. And I keep my phone on loud waiting for the next call from my telephone romeo....

Telephone Romeo - Jason Boland...