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I thought about you every hour I was awake.
Probably way more than that, actually.
I’m glad that the thought of me helped you out in trying circumstances…
And you’re right: I AM counting on you.
And I’m counting the days until I get to see you. 68 more to go.
I can’t wait.
Love,
Lars
I paused…
Deleted ‘Love’…
Then retyped it and sent it before I could convince myself to do otherwise.
From that point onwards, she continued to reply with ‘Love, Rachel’…
And I did the same.
41
The next two months passed at a snail’s pace.
Every mission seemed that much more dangerous, that much more likely to go bad…
But finally I got down to my last week in Afghanistan.
American soldiers talk about being ‘short’ when their deployments are close to an end. As in, their time was short.
I’m so short I could sit on the edge of a dime and swing my legs.
I also heard them talk about I got ten more wake-ups and a glorious arising.
Ten more days in-country, followed by the day they woke up and left.
I had spent most of my military career not caring where I was stationed or for how long –
But now it felt like a matter of life or death.
The only thing that kept me going was Rachel’s emails.
In the final week, we started making specific plans.
I told her there was one thing I had to do before I came to see her.
Rachel,
Just to let you know, I’m going to spend as much time with you as possible – but I need to make a stopover in my hometown in Sweden, just for half a day or so.
But as soon as that’s done, I’m on the next plane out.
Love,
