After a very bad one-year deployment in Afghanistan, my kid is is back in the States, and on his way home to see us.
I am closing EVERYTHING until he has to go back to work, and I will not be available during this time to read e-mail, check student support/customer service, or deal with any other issues. During the next two weeks, I will not be doing the Walkthrough, writing the novel, or anything else.
I’m checking to see if Margaret can cover for me during this time, but if she can’t, I’ll take care of whatever goes wrong when I get back.
If you have a problem with a class, course, or product, go to http://novelwritingschool.com/support and create a support ticket. If Margaret can cover for me, you’ll get a reply as quickly as she’s able. If she can’t, it’s going to be October 10th (or 11th, depending on how much I find waiting for me in there) before you hear ANYTHING. Please be patient. I’ll be back when I’m able, but this is my kid, and I’m not apologizing for needing this time.
Hold him close & please tell him how much we appreciate his service and sacrifice. My husband was in the US Army &, then after going to medical school & residency, he joined the US Air Force as a physician.
We have the utmost respect for our men and women in uniform.
Enjoy every moment!
Engrid (Penny on FBk)
woo hooo! Have a blast! J Val
Welcome home. Well done. All the best xx Tracy
Holly, What a blessing that your son came home. Hope you have a wonderful visit. Will keep him in my prayers.
Ah, Holly, spend every second you can with him! As the mother of a Navy kid who can’t even tell me where he’s been, I know how important this time is for both of you. Thank him for all of us for his service to our country.
My heart is full for you and your family.
Hear from you soon!
Sherilyn
I am new to the site, but by all means take whatever time and as much time as you need to enjoy your son and his safe return. Thank him for his service to our country, I am proud of him without knowing him.
God Bless…. John
Please give him my best. Hope you guys have a great time during his visit home.
Bake him cookies.
Awesome news!
Take your time. Family comes first, and this is family big-time.
Thank goodness he’s coming home safe and whole. Please thank him for his service on behalf of all of us in your classes and community. May you enjoy every moment of your time together! Meanwhile, maybe I’ll have a chance to catch up on my HTTS lessons . . .
Spend as much quality time with your son as you can! And please thank him for me for doing his patriotic duty!
Good for you, Holly! Enjoy your time.
Thank goodness he’s ok after working for a year in that dangerous place. Enjoy having your boy home with you! You both deserve a break.
Prue
Holly,
I hope this message finds you and your family well and in good spirits.
I wanted to let you know that you have helped me very much with my plans to be a writer with your e-mails and the things I find on your site. I hope to take some of your courses when I can afford it in the future, my wife just graduated from OSU’s Pharmacy program in June and passed her tests on the first try in late August. She is now in the process of trying to find a job, hopefully in the Columbus, Ohio area so we don’t have to move out of the school district. Hopefully, I will only be working part-time and writing full time by the end of the year.
Good Luck with your self-publishing, I know three of my friends have gone that route over the last five years. I will probably bug you about this in the future. :}
Family is everything to me. I hope you have a great time with your child and hope there will be no deployment to Afghanistan, Iraq or other battlefields in the future.
Take Care,
Dave Ferkins
Good for you! I’m glad he made it back safely. I can’t imagine how difficult the year must have been on you all, but I appreciate the sacrifice you’ve all made.
Enjoy your son.
Enjoy your time with your son! He deserves your undivided attention and I’m proud you’re closing down to see that he gets it. Give him an extra hug from us and thank him for his service!
I’m so happy your son is back home and safe. Enjoy your visit with him 🙂
Nancy
God bless you all and thank your son for his service to freedom.
I’m so glad your son is back safe and sound!
Take all the time you need and have a great time with your son. All of us here are happy to wait 🙂
Holly,
Enjoy your boy.
I am so glad for all of you that he came home safe and sound.
See you when we see you.
As noted above – no reason to apologize. Welcoming home my own friends from Afghanistan, one from two tours in three years, these first few weeks are priceless and essential. Thank him for his service from me (and the many others) and enjoy your time together.
Enjoy the break,
Regards to your family, enjoy some very special quality time in particular with your son.
Take Care
Mark
Kudos! Enjoy your time together and don’t dare feel guilty. If you happen to sneak a peak at these comments, share with your son just how proud we are of him and his fellow soldiers. We are tremendously grateful to him, them and the families that support them here at home.
God Bless You and Yours!
Enjoy your time with your family. Will be here when you return.
Relax and have a good time catching up.
Holly, I’m happy and relieved to see your kid made it home safe and sound. I was sorry to read it was a rough year for him. I’m sure it was a rough year for you, too.
Please thank him for his sacrifice. Guys like him endure things most of us can’t even imagine, all so the rest of us can sit safe at home and get excited about minor, unimportant things. The least we can do is recognise that sacrifice and appreciate it. And thanks, too, for your own sacrifice, the year you spent holding your breath every time an official looking car slowed down outside your place, or jumping when the phone rang, or whatever.
Enjoy your time with your kid. Let him know he’s special. Start to relax, a little. 😉 That’s all that’s important right now.
Yay Holly! Enjoy your time with your family and thank your son for serving our country and protecting our freedom! Hugs to all of you.
Enjoy this time with your son, Holly! All the best to you and your family, and tell your son thank you from me.
Holly,
Have a wonderful time with you son. I’m so happy for you.
All my best,
June
Absolutely understandable. Have a good time with him and please pass along a standing ovation and a “thank you for your unbreakable spirit in the name of freedom”.
We live for our kids and family, not work. You go do some living. Your boy ever winds up ’round Fort Gordon, I’ll treat him and his friends to a home-cooked Southern meal – even if he is AF, not Navy or Marines. 🙂
Thank goodness he is home, safe and sound. As a wife to a guy in the Air Force, I understand the dangers. Have a wonderful time with your kiddo!
I wouldn’t expect anything different from a fellow mother. I hope everything is as good as can be expected and you find lots of quality time together.
Absolutely, Holly! Hug him and tell your kid ‘thank you, thank you for your service!’
Good for you. You ABSOLUTELY need to put him and you ahead of us. We will be here when you get back. Enjoy the time with him.
As a son and an air force vet I understand the need for time with family after a horrible deployment. An any time in afgan counts as a bad trip. You should not feel bad about taking time with family especially ones that that put there life on the line day in and out. Enjoy your time with someone who had a good chance of not coming back, reassuring yourself they are really there. Life goes on but it is the moments that keep us who we are.
I’m so glad to hear he is safe and on his way home, Holly. Forget everything else and enjoy his company while you have the chance. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like for a mother to have a son serving in Afghanistan. I just know I would hate it!
Dear Holly,
take your time without any bad feeling, and certainly without apology. There is basically nothing more important than family! I’m glad you can be there for your son at this time of his life, and I hope he begins his healing process of coming home again. And I hope you have really enjoyable two weeks!
That is great news! I haven’t read many comments on this, but it seems we are all in agreement: We are all glad he is coming home safely and are more than willing to stand back and let you have this time. I know I would drop everything if it were me 😀
Enjoy your time with him, Alan
Hey Holly,
I’m glad your son is safe at home. Tell him thank you for me, and I appreciate him serving our country. Take all the time you need. I think it’s awesome you’re putting everything aside to spend time with him. You’re such a good mom. 🙂
Take care,
Rebekkah
Holly blessings on you and your son,
I have a song out there in cyberspace entitled “Christmas in Afghanistan” maybe he will like it or maybe not……depends
phil
Holly – so happy to hear he is home safe – take all the time you need and enjoy every minutes.
God bless you both!
I am happy to hear that. I have a son and daughter-in-law in the active service so I know of which you speak. Take care, ply him with homemade cooking, hug him to pieces and enjoy.
Priority #1: Family
Priority #2: Everything else.
I’m so glad he’s back safely. Of course you need time for him.
*hugs* to you both.
Of course you should take as much time as you need with your son. I’m glad he’s home safe, and I hope he doesn’t have to go back. Tell him thank you. I really feel for all our soldiers over there.
Enjoy your kid!!!
Good for you!
Glad he’s home safe.
Friend of ours (Parachute Regiment) starts his second tour in November.
Best wishes.
Holly, that is great news! Have a wonderful visit.
Wonderful news, Holly! Best wishes to your son, I hope he’s well and no more wars take him from home. Enjoy your time!
Our children, no matter how grown-up they think they are, are still our children and the most important beings on this earth. Have a wonderful time with your beloved warrior son and God bless. I am sure no one will begrudge you this time with your family, and if they do, well…I am sure we can all think of creative activities to pursue in the interim.
Love and blessings to you,
Karen