It is the times when you can’t be with your family that you remember things that happened in your life that remind you how special your relationship is. Things that may not have entered your thoughts for years, suddenly seem like they were yesterday.

My first assignment in the Air Force was in Turkey. I was allowed leave to come home and I had not seen my parents for some time. I was originally supposed to fly into one airport and I wound up being changed to another airport on my trip home. This was the days before cell phones so we had to get word to my parents over the airport loudspeaker that I would be arriving in a different city.

When I got to Orlando, I was taking the shuttle from one terminal to the main and during the ride we passed the shuttle going the other way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mom on the other shuttle and it was the oddest feeling as we were being separated in opposite directions, watching each other get further and further apart. Of course my mom got back on the returning shuttle and we were finally reunited with a big hug and a lot of tears.

Today in this Covid situation, it is those moments that we use to feel the hugs and the love that has always existed. It is those remembrances that remind us how important our family and loved ones are to us. It is those moments that wrap us in the hug that we need to remind us that time and circumstances can never separate love and caring. #morningswithron