Getting through the first storm….

As most of you know when a storm hits a particular area linemen from all over the country go in to help restore the power.  When its a bad enough storm linemen from coast to coast come in! When Sandy hit there were guys that drove for days from California to get there to help restore power to the East coast.  Brandon has always wanted to do storm, and I have always been supportive.  Being in the apprenticeship there is less a chance of him going to storm because his crew has to go, he can't just decide he wants to go on his own.  So we were not too sure if he would get any storm work while in the apprenticeship or not.  Well sure enough he got the call to go to storm in Minneapolis and it could not have came at a worse time.

I went home June 3rd-12th.  I got home on Wednesday the 12th and Brandon was working 12s Thursday and Friday.  Then he had class all day Saturday and Sunday and he was back to working 12s the next week.  He even had to work Saturday too but we were hoping he would be off of work by noon.  He called me about 10 am and told me he was getting sent to storm in Minneapolis.  We hadn't even heard of any storms there but there was about 600 thousand out of power due to some terrible wind and thunder storms that had rolled through.  He said he was only going to be gone until Tuesday or Wednesday and then he would be home.  He said they had to leave by 12:40.  I started packing his storm bag with every work shirt, carharts, socks and underwear he had.  I ran to the store and got him some snacks for the long drive.  I raced home and got to talk to him for 15 minutes while he showered and then with a kiss he was gone.  I was so sad but honestly I was still numb at this point.

Friday night Brandon and I were outside and I was watching him while he was putting his steps on his truck and I got a phone call.  I got a phone call that my dad had been in a car accident that afternoon and passed away.  I was shocked and stunned.  I didn't know what I was supposed to do.  Brandon and I sat out on our picnic table as I talked on the phone and he talked on the phone with the Idaho State Police.  As I was on the phone with them the coolest thing happened.  I looked up and the most beautiful deer you had ever seen walked right up to our fence, stopped and looked right at us.  The sun was setting and it was so beautiful, it is a memory I will cherish forever.  I know that was my dad just saying "hey I'm ok and I love you".  My dad was the biggest animal lover I have ever known and I know without a doubt that was him.  We had never seen a deer here, we are on the prairie and I doubt we will see one ever again.

The next few days I was attached to my phone for 8 hours a day.  Making arrangements, getting information, letting family and friends know.  It was some of the longest and days of my life.  I am an only child and the only immediate family left so all the decisions were put on me.  It was some of the hardest days and I could not have gotten through without my mom and friends.  Tuesday and Wednesday came and went and of course Brandon wasn't home.  I didn't think he would be, I figured it would change once he got there and it did.  They finished up in Minneapolis and then they got sent to Michigan to help finish up another job.   The phone calls between Brandon and I each night only lasted about 10-15 minutes because he was so dog tired by the time he could call me.  He was working 16s while on storm.  In those 10-15 minutes I needed him to help me emotionally, tell me not to think like that or remind me of the good things.  I feel so bad that I couldn't even ask him about his days but I needed him in that time to help me emotionally so I had to be selfish.   There is nothing worse than being sad every night and not even having your husband there to hold you.

I am happy to say that after 9 of the hardest days of my life, and 29 days without a full day with each other, Brandon is on his way home! I can't wait to see him and hug him.  I am so happy that he got to go on storm, but I can't wait to have him lay next to me each night and just hold me.  We made it through our first storm and hopefully the next one is a little easier on us both!