Left Behind…Again…

One summer afternoon, I received a panicked phone call from my Mom that Ryan was extremely depressed. “I’ve never seen him like this before,” she whimpered. Scared that her only son had been wounded, she pleaded with me, “PLEASE! Send him a card or a letter; give him a phone call and talk with him for a while. SOMETHING! He misses you so much!” After such a traumatic conversation, I felt compelled as a sister and friend to leap at the first opportunity I had to write him a letter. Throughout the two-page letter, I addressed the depression that he was struggling with by reassuring him that the Lord was with him; “God will comfort and guide you.” Praise the Lord that with each passing summer Ryan acquired a higher tolerance for my absence; and with a growing tolerance, came a growing knowledge of coping mechanisms. Unfortunately, I missed him, but comprehending what he was feeling was difficult as I’m the eldest child. The saddest part was that I didn’t seem to miss him as much or in the same way as he missed me; I guess I just don’t realize how difficult is has been for him to adjust.