Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

2021

The pandemic was a very crazy time and it was easy to lose time of what the actual month or year was. I remember traveling for work in the first quarter of 2020 and later, thinking back on what might have actually been happening but it was before we knew anything. One of my very first blog posts details out how all of this evolved throughout the COVID period.

In 2021, America was drawing down the U.S. troops in Afghanistan. My now son-in-law Andrew is in the Army reserves. He has a very specialized training in electronic warfare and is one of less than 20 people in the Army trained in this expertise. As the US looked to drawn upon its military reserves, one General specifically requested Andrew to be on his team. This meant that Andrew would be gone for about a year or potentially more.

Jessica was preparing herself, being new to this military life, joining Facebook and other social groups of military wives. She did her best to understand how to manage while her partner was deployed, and how best to support him when he returned.

Andrew is a true American hero. While overseas, he was stationed in Kuwait and helped identify a high risk to an infantry in transit of a potential road bomb. He and his team saved over a dozen lives.

He was further deployed to other high risk areas within the region, due to his highly skilled training. It was difficult to understand the level of risk he was in based on the seriousness of the mission. This was all for the best or I don’t think Jessica would have been able to cope.

After Andrew’s return, he finally had the chance to meet and hold his nephew Camden. It was a very special time.

During the summer baseball season of 2022, the Seattle Mariners invited Andrew and others of his troop to be recognized for their service. Jessica, John and Staci were all in attendance to support Andrew. Our family is very honored and I am sorry that I was in Italy during this recognition and couldn’t be there in person.