We had a surprise visitor yesterday afternoon--Quantel, home on leave before leaving for Iraq (or Lebanon?) August 10. Because of the two roles for which he has been trained, he will definitely be in harm's way. He is a gunner (50 caliber machine gun) and he drives the "bump truck" which picks up the bodies. He has already suffered significant hearing loss. This war is now up close and personal for us. As he left, he mentioned that he wasn't sure about his ride back to Detroit Metro. His flight was 6:30 AM today. When we asked him why he chose to fly in and out of Detroit, he said, "Because it is in Michigan." He was not aware that there is an airport in GrandRapids that he could have used.
Since it was absolutely necessary that he be on that flight, we told him to call us if he needed a ride. We asked if he could please call by 9 PM. Well, he waited for his ride till about 10:15 and then called us. After much discussion about where we could meet him (He was in Jenison), we agreed on a certain Mobil station. When we got there, we waited another half hour because his brother and friends just could not say good-bye. Thank goodness for cell phones so that we knew what was happening. We finally left for Detroit about 11:30 and got there about 2:30 this morning.
Looking back, we feel that those three hours with him were a gift. As I listen to him describe his life in the Marines, I marvel at his insights, his sensitivity, his commitment, his vocabulary (using words like "reiterate"), and where he is in general at age 21 (on Aug. 26). He still has his Bill Cosby-like sense of humor and apparently is the only one is his platoon that can make his commanding officers laugh. He seems to be someone that other guys confide in, and we were able to talk about that great responsibility. We were able to pray with him and share about God's purpose for his life and how his faith will make it possible for him to survive, no matter what happens. It was very difficult to leave him at the airport, but he promised to call from California before he is deployed.
The worst part of the trip, of course, was coming back. We didn't want coffee because we wanted to sleep when we got home, so we had to rely on stimulating conversation--not always easy at 4 AM. We got home shortly after 5:30, having made very good time. There aren't many drivers on the road at that time, although you wonder about the ones who are. Please pray for Quantel. We had been hoping that by time he was deployed, troops would be withdrawing from Iraq. Just the opposite is happening, and he is going into a very dangerous situation. We'll keep you posted if we can.
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It really is amazing at just how much he has changed...and who he has become. You both have done such a great job of sticking with him over the various changes in life circumstances. I am glad that you were able to spend that time with him, and that even though it was very late, you can still consider it a blessing. We will continue to pray for him.
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