Gone, but not forgotten?
Like an ancient ghost,
I float on December’s breath.
A flickering dream.
I think I have the rest of cruise planned out. I’m going to stay until November 1st, at which point I will fly home after a relaxing vacation in Singapore. I’m not yet sure if I’ll be passing through Hawaii, but I’ll find that out closer to the date that I leave. I certainly hope so, as it would be nice to catch up with old friends after being away so long. As it stands right now, I have 53 days left of deployment. That’s much closer than I estimated last week, and a much more bearable of a number.
As deployment carries us farther and farther away from the world we know, I seem to also be drifting farther and farther from the people I know. Since you don’t exist in the “real” world, people kind of forget about you. Your presence isn’t as important, and your memory can only last so long in the minds of those you left behind. And why should it be any other way? I wouldn’t expect everyone to malinger about each day thinking about me. But, it does get kind of lonely when everyone stops responding to your emails and you no longer have friends and loved ones to talk to.
The world tick, tick, ticks on while I’m trapped in a little time capsule like a message in a bottle. I wonder how it’s going to be when I return? Six months is a long time, and many things can change. Changes demand adaptability, and fortunately that’s something that I’m relatively good at.
Who will be there when I get back? Who are the ones who remember me?
.//chris