One Thing in our Favor

I have been torn for a while now about what to do when my husband leaves. My husband had said that when he left, he would get on the ship one day, and then they would pull out the next. Our youngest child isn't 2 yet, and I know she is going to have a hard time understanding what is going on. In my mind, I don't know that seeing the ship leave will be a good thing for her. She is already going to be confused. She won't be able to see her dad, talk to him touch him, etc. They can't go on ship with him when we drop him off. I have been concerned that she would get even more confused and upset when I point at a ship and tell her Daddy is somewhere on there, but can't do anything to make that concrete in her mind.

The oldest, however, would benefit by seeing him leave. A lot. I ask her if she wanted to see the ship pull out, and she said she did. I explained the whole bit about only seeing the ship, and not Daddy, and she said she still wanted to go.
It has been difficult to decide what to do.

Today, my husband was told that he would be flying onto the ship. This is something that works in our favor. We will be able to do a much better goodbye this way. They can take him to the squadron and drop him off. Then, we can come back right before they take off, and watch him. He will be able to wave to the girls, maybe even run over and hug them right before they go, and the little one will be able to make a very solid connection this time. This is definitely much, much better for us, and I am thankful for the things that work for us like this.