It’s always so good to hear from him; I have incredible empathy for him. So when he’s frustrated, I’m frustrated. And when he’s excited, I’m excited. Today were mixed emotions. It almost seemed like he was under so much stress he didn’t even realize the magnitude of it until I pointed it out to him. There are major cultural differences between Americans and Iraqis, making it difficult to communicate and negotiate effectively at times. I can tell that the Team (the MITT James is on) is bending over backwards to get to the task at hand, but is hampered at times by the logistic hangups that occur due to reliance on Iraqi civilians (who have an altogether different way of doing business) and with the Team’s own American military support units, who are physically and metaphorically miles away from the Team’s situation and do not fully understand their role in supporting these new MITTs. After a few minutes of hearing about some of the situations J. was dealing with, the least of which is THE MUD they’d gotten their Humvee stuck in several times over, I had a hard time bringing up my "had a hard time juggling Toddler E. and the packages at the post office the other day" story. There are days when I think that if I was granted one wish it would be to have the ability to work at J.’s side, just so I didn’t feel so helpless. I have this longing to make things better for him that is indescribable and even painful at times.
So I’ll pray…that all the good days and small victories they’ve had so far will carry him through the frustrating days.
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