Growing up in a military family, I knew there was always a chance. A chance that my dad, a member of the army reserve, could be sent overseas. What I did not realize was that this would ever happen to me and my family. Until 2008, when we got the call.
I was born in New Berlin, Wisconsin to two lovely people named Jana and David Horn. I am the youngest of four children. The oldest is Courtney and at the time she was in 8th grade. The second oldest is Ben and he was in 7th grade. The third oldest is Alyssa and she was in 5th grade. I was in 3rd grade.
My parents knew before all of us did. I remember we were sitting at the kitchen table when my mom told us. “As you guys know there is a war in Afghanistan right now and Dad has been in the Army for 18 years and has never been called for duty, so we are especially lucky.” When she said that I was still clueless but i’m sure Courtney and Ben knew what was going on. “Dad got a call yesterday that he is going to be deployed overseas.” At that moment, so many thoughts rushed through my head about what life would be like without my dad around.
I had been told multiple times that I was a full on daddys girl. We did father daughter dances every year at my dance center. I sat next to him at the dinner table. He was my coach for my sports and I was lucky for that. So when I heard this news I was speechless and the first thing I did was break down and just cry. My dad came over by me and held me in his arms which was the best thing that he could’ve done. “I am only going to be gone for 1 year and I am sure that you can visit me when I get called back to Georgia.”
That was the thing, my dad was not an active duty member of the army. He was high enough in the rankings that he would not have to be in combat but had to train the active duty soldiers and stay overseas for a month or two and then he went to Atlanta, Georgia. While in Atlanta, my dad would continue to train other people. I still knew that I would not see him a lot because he was on the other side of the country but it was comforting knowing that he was still in the United States rather than in a place where there was a war. He did still have to go to some dangerous places, but never anywhere that was in combat.
This did not mean that he could not get hurt or killed though. I knew from social studies classes that people overseas do not have good feelings about Americans because we help people in Afghanistan. There was a chance that if people found out that my dad was American he could be shot on the spot. That was my biggest fear. If my dad was gone I would not know what to do with my life. My mom makes a good amount of money at her job but not enough to raise four kids. As the time for my dad to leave got closer the more stressed out my mom became. She was worried about taking care of four children while still going to work and doing everything else she had to do. That was when the church got involved.
I went to a private school for eight years called Hales Corners Lutheran. It is a pretty small school compared to Franklin but it is one of the biggest Lutheran schools in the country. That school is also a church and my mom is also a teacher there. At the time she was just talking about it to her closest school friends but then the word spread and everyone got involved. People made a list of meals that they would make us every week and when my mom found this out she cried. Our whole family was so thankful that we had these people in our lives. It was so comforting to know how many people cared about us and wanted us to be okay during this tough time.

As we left our house to bring my dad to the airport all of us were sad and silent. None of the tears were coming out yet but I knew that if I thought about it, I could break down in three seconds. Saying goodbye was always the hardest for me, I never knew if this was the last time I would see my dad. I needed to have hope that he would always come back to us. Leaving the airport after having him leave, the car was silent except for all of us kids trying to hold back tears. This was one of the hardest days of my life.
A couple of months past and we got the chance to go down to Atlanta, Georgia to visit my dad. The drive there was the longest drive of my life. It felt like forever and a half. Once we got there I was filled with happiness. We went to the World of Coke and also went to the aquarium. We were only in Atlanta for five days and they flew by. Saying goodbye for a second time was even worse than the first time. Having my dad around for a couple days made everything feel back to normal, and then it was gone. The drive home was even longer than the way there and was much more quiet.
One day I came back from school like any other day and when I walked in the door my jaw dropped. There was my dad sitting at the kitchen table. I was so excited I wanted to die. I ran and gave him a hug and I was so happy. We then went to Stonefire Pizza and everything was back to the way it was suppose to be.
Overall, this year was really hard for me, but I made it through and became a stronger person. I learned how important family is and how hard it is to be away from them for a long time. I also know that I love my family more than life and nothing can compare to a family bond as strong as ours.