What is the hardest job you ever had?

So I was thinking this morning on the drive into work about the hardest job I have ever had. I would have to say that the hardest job that I have eer had is being a parent. Yup, that would be it. Don't get me wrong, it is also the best thing I have ever done in my life.

I was thinking about how when they are little it is so easy to "fix" everything. They fall down, you pick them up and hug them and they are back on their way. As they get older you take them to soccer, softball, and karate and expose them to all the things "you never had as a child" because you want better for your kids. Right?

High school brings new challenges. Boyfriends or girlfriends. Fights with best friends. New best friends. And the most proud moement of graduation. Then they are off to college and you still have influence because you are paying for it. So you get input into which college they go to and hopefully you have helped them decided what they want to major in. Of course, this can change so many times during the 4 years they are in college.

Some choose a different path. My daughter went to college for a couple of years before deciding that she wanted to join the military. Because I am retired Army and my husband is still in we had always told her that if she wanted to join the military she would join the Air Force. Well, Thanksgiving of 2006 that is exactly what she decided she wanted to do. Off she goes to BMT in May 2007.

Now when she calls home and is sad I can't fix it. That is the hardest job I have ever had. I can give her advice and suggestions. I can even talk about other things to get her mind off of it but I can't fix it. And I can't make her decisions for her. Heck, I can't even tell her what I would do if it were me because I really don't know.

You see, Shay has orders for Travis Air Force Base in California. She is excited to be going to the west coast. She knows some people in San Francisco and it would not be that far to drive to Seattle (our original home). Now she has someone who wants to trade with her. They have Fairchild AFB which is in Spokane, WA. The same state she is from (still on the other side of the world from me though). She says it is a rapid deployment base which means she could get deployed sooner than she would if she were at Travis. (And she wants to me say that this would be a good choice?) She also says that because it is a smaller clinic she would probably be better able to go to school. So she tells me she is going to say yes.

2 days later and now she is worried. Seems that now there are at least 4 people with orders to Fairchild and she is sure that some of them will get their orders changed and she does not want to agree to a change and then have it changed by the Air Force and go to Minot (her words, not mine). And here I sit unable to fix it. If I could fix it she would be going to MacDill.

I want her to establish herself as her own person and live her life. I don't want her making decisions based on me. Since we are currently living in Florida she would love to come to MacDill. But what happens in 2 years when we get transferred (I hope)? Will she then try to get assigned where we go? Of course I would love that but that would not be what is best for her.

This job is so hard!