Not much is harder than being away from the girls for an extended period of time, and that's just what I had to do last September for a job assignment. I was essentially "loaned out" to the States of Maryland and Vermont to assist in their emergency response efforts following Hurricane Irene, and I was gone for a solid two weeks. I worked 12-hour shifts without even weekends off, and needless to say, given such a schedule, I had little time to check in with Lucas and the girls. I missed them terribly! Ever the man for a challenge, Lucas was, of course, fine with the girls by himself, and on the occasions when we did talk, he filled me in on all of the fun things they were doing: trips to the zoo, outings at the park, even going to Target for new clothes since the weather had gotten cooler. Knowing how stressful my assignment was and how much I missed being home, Lucas took to sending me e-mails with pictures of what the girls were up to. Just everyday stuff, but they always brought a smile to my face, all the more so since Lucas was obviously going for a laugh of two as you can clearly see below... I'm fairly certain that other pictures had clearly been staged in an attempt to make me cry, however, and they very nearly did! Who doesn't want to be reminded that they're loved?? Those two weeks couldn't end soon enough!
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| At the zoo in those Target specials |
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| One of the fun e-mails I got |
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| Another e-mail. I made this one my laptop wallpaper :-) |
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| The tear jerker! |
