Who the heck did I think I was kidding?
LaJuan Moody

Over the last few weeks, my emotions have been all over the scale. But I know that I am not alone in this. There are at least 2,881 other parents or loved ones who recently have gone through many of the same battles that I have.

My son left this week, along with the other 2,881 soldiers of the 39th Brigade Combat Team, for his second tour of duty in Iraq.

I have experienced some of the most memorable and fun times that I will ever have with my son during this time. I have also experienced some of the most difficult and sad times with him.

On Feb. 20 a friend and I made the trip to Camp Shelby, Miss., to bring my son, Sheylan, and his friend, Jake Byrd, home for a four-day pass. The drive home with these two would have to rank right up at the top of the list of memorable and fun times with my son. The guys had been training since Jan. 5 and were ready for some recreation time, to say the least. There was hardly a moment of the drive that we were not laughing at the tales that these two were spinning for us. Now were all of the tales true? I seriously doubt it, but they were entertaining! They kept us in stitches telling stories about each other and some of the pranks that are pulled on one another when you have this many people stuck together for that long a time. They definitely made the trip home seem a lot shorter than the trip down the day before.

Shayla and Sheylan Mooney

As we were getting closer to home, both of the guys were becoming more eager to see their kids. Sheylan has a 12-year-old daughter and Jake has a son under the age of 2. We got to Sheridan and were only 15 minutes from home; I knew that a close friend o f Shey - lan's was at work at Hair Associates and a s ked if he wanted to stop and see her. He told me no, he just wanted to get to the house. Which was all well and good until he saw the friend through the windows.

"Stop Mom," he shouted.

I pulled the car over and parked where I could see, as he walked into the shop. This also ranks right up at the top of memories for me as I watched the look of recognition on Shannon Connor's face as she realized that it was Sheylan walking through the door. She dropped what she was doing and went running across the floor.

That four-day leave was packed with memories like the ones mentioned above.

Two weeks later I made another trip to Camp Shelby, this time to say goodbye to my short son (Sheylan) and my tall son (Jake).

I have gone through this before in 2003, when they were deployed the first time. Even though they both have assured me that they have safer job assignments this time around and will not be on the front lines, it was much harder to tell them goodbye this time.

I was trying very hard to be strong and not cry as we were leaving. I knew I needed to stay strong because I had my granddaughter with me. I kept telling myself that I would not cry in front of her because it would only upset her more.

I don't know who the heck I thought I was kidding. I became a virtual puddle with the first hug of the morning and that was before breakfast. So much for being the strong one!

So by the time we left that afternoon and said our final farewells, I was pretty much useless. After we pulled out of the parking lot and drove away, I looked up to see Sheylan's sunglasses on the visor of my car. I had his daughter call him and tell him to meet us in the lobby of the hotel. He answered, telling her to drop them off in Jake's room. He too didn't want his daughter to see him cry.

As I drove out of the parking lot again, I looked in the rear-view mirror to see my son standing at his window waving goodbye and wiping his eyes.

But none of the happenings of that last trip to Mississippi compare to the devastation that I felt on Thursday evening when he called to tell me goodbye before boarding a C-130. Yes, I knew that he was going to be leaving and I thought that I was prepared for it. Again I was kidding myself. You just can't be prepared for the words "Mom, I just wanted to call and tell you I love you and let you know that within the hour we will be on our way. Take care of Shayla; she's all I've got."

LaJuan Mooney is the features editor of the Saline County Voice. Her column appears occasionally.

If you have stories about your soldier that you would like to share, please contact LaJuan at 315-6397 or by e-mail at