The Little Green Dot

Day 3

You can just be sitting there minding your own business and all of a sudden the green dot appears. For the average every day Joe, that little green dot doesn't mean anything except for someone is online that you may or may not want to talk to. For us Marine parents that little green dot makes several things happen. Our hearts begin to race in anticipation. Some of us yell things out loud like,  "He/She is online!" or "There he/she is". Some of us knock things over because we try and grab the mouse as quick as we can so we can click on that little green dot. Some of us cry, because that little green dot shows us, that somewhere out there, our Marine is safe. Safe enough to get online and make a connection to the United States if they are out there in harms way. That little green dot is at times our life line. At times, it is the only communications we can get. Yes, there are SAT phones that can be used to make a voice call, but, most times they are not clear enough to make out the conversation. With  the use of facebook and that little green dot, even though we can not accurately make out the exact emotion of our loved one, the messages still come through loud and clear. For the next 7 + months, I will sit idle by day after day, night after night, waiting to see if and when that little green dot appears in my side bar to alert me that my deployed Marine comes online. When he does, I will know he is in fact doing just fine. I saw that little green dot in the wee hours this morning. Even though I was wiping sleep out of my eyes and exhausted from a long day, as soon as I saw it I was wide awake. For the next 45 minutes I sat and talked with my Marine staring at that little green dot until it disappeared.

Tonight I am sitting here waiting for that little green dot to appear.