Back to Work

Going back to work is always a drag for me. I don't get weekends and holidays off like most people. I go out for several weeks at a time and work every single day until I decide it's time to head home. Then I take a week or so off.

Years ago going back out was really hard. My wife and I just weren't used to being apart. She would cry and we both wondered when we would see each other again. Having children also made it difficult. I sometimes would have nightmares about something happening to them -- being so far away often made me feel helpless to protect them.

I can remember buying a lottery ticket and checking the numbers the night before I had to leave and hoping beyond hope that I would hit and never have to leave my family ever again. A naive assumption, but I guess you have to dream big.

People often ask me how I can be gone for so long and not see my wife and kids. I tell them that sometimes you have to think with your head instead of your heart. Sure, being away sucks; but having to worry about where the next meal will come from, like my parents did, sucks even more. In an era where most families struggle with dual incomes and child care, I do quite well with one income and a wife who stays home. In fact, with only a high school diploma, my income compares to a graduate degree and about a decade in the job market; I looked it up.

Also, with all the technology today, I'm really not that far away. I talk to them on my cell phone; the same phone I'm blogging with right now. I also have a laptop to email and share pictures and videos. And if I need to get home in a hurry, the wonders of flight will have me there within a few hours.

Working is just one of those things that all of us have to do. Some get home every night and some of us don't. It's just a "whatever works" kind of scenario. This is just what works for me.