The first sort-of-hard day

I'm usually fine. I always think, "It's only a year." Mostly, I do think a year is nothing. But today, as I was driving over the Glen Jackson Bridge, it hit me that this will be a long and lonely year. I didn't really feel like going home, but anyone I would have hung out with was busy. Weekends were always spent with Adam, unless he had drill or AT.

I'm sure there will be harder days, but today was semi rough because that realization just sort of hit me really hard.

He got my anniversary present. I sent him cookies and a Build-a-Bunny. He liked and was grateful for both. And, no, he isn't worried about the guys making fun of him and his bunny. :)

This makes me so mad!

I already posted this on Facebook, but here it is again because this story clearly applies to this blog.

Cindy Sheehan pushes Oregon Guard bill

Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

Cindy Sheehan urges Oregon legislators to vote on House Bill 2556 onWednesday in Salem. She traveled from California in part to support the measure to limit the Oregon National Guard's federal duty under certain circumstances. "Let it go for a vote," she said at a rally that drew about 20 people to the Capitol steps.

Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who became an anti-war flashpoint on the road to President George W. Bush's ranch, urged legislators in Salem on Wednesday to keep the Oregon National Guard out of Iraq.

But even as she stood on the Capitol steps asking lawmakers to vote on House Bill 2556, inside, the House Rules committee chairman indicated the measure may already be dead.

"We have not scheduled it for a work session, and right now I do not see it being scheduled," said Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay.

The bill would give the governor the authority to send the Guard for federal duty only when he or she deems it legal. Oregon is one of 12 states that considered such action this year but is the only one with a bill still alive.

"Oregon has the chance to be the national leader on this as we have been with other laws like the bottle bill, Death With Dignity and public beaches," said Leah Bolger, a retired Navy commander who lives in Corvallis and is the national vice president of Veterans for Peace. She noted that 40 percent of the Oregon troops headed to Iraq have deployed before.

"It is a near certainty that some of them may not come back," Bolger said. "But it is an absolute certainty that the families, communities and businesses of Oregon will pay a steep price for this deployment."

Members of peace and veterans groups and churches began collecting 7,200 signatures a year ago demanding the Guard stay home. They won important -- and diverse-- support when Reps. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, a Vietnam veteran, and Chip Shields, D-Portland, came up with the bill.

A public hearing in March drew support from veterans and the families of current Oregon Guard soldiers.

Organizers had hoped to stop the deployment of 2,600 Oregon Guard soldiers headed to Iraq in July. But they deployed for federal service May 4 with the bill still in committee.

That slowdown may have stirred up more support, said Dan Handelman, of Peace and Justice Works in Portland.

Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, who helped send the Guard off at a May 4 mobilization, issued a letter Wednesday saying the deployment "undermines the Guard's ability to protect the people and property of Oregon. We must act now to protect them."

Sheehan came to Salem to support the bill. Her son, Casey, was killed in Baghdad in April 2004. The California mother became an international sensation after Bush refused to meet her and she camped outside his Crawford, Texas, ranch in protest for nearly a month.

Now 51 and a grandmother, Sheehan lives in San Francisco but has been in Ashland, Corvallis and Portland this month promoting her book.

Sheehan said Memorial Day is always difficult as Casey was born on Memorial Day and he would have turned 30 on Friday. She said she is still working to expose the myths about what she calls "the robber class who starts wars and the robbed class who fights them."

"One myth is that it's noble to die in wars," she said. "That's why I went to Texas, when George Bush said it was noble."

-- Julie Sullivan; juliesullivan@news.oregonian.com

"I thought it was raining"

Adam said Georgia is ridiculously hot and humid. Yep, that's the South for you (I lived in Florida for three years). He said the guys always come back soaked in sweat. At one point, he thought it was raining, and then he realized that was sweat dripping down his face. Ew!

I sent him cookies today. Mailing stuff is expensive nowadays! It cost me $22 to send two boxes of cookies that cost $13. Go figure.

Following Adam's trail

I decided to start this blog to keep track of Adam's whereabouts and to let people know about what's going on. I'm hoping to have him and also his mom post so you get all of our perspectives.

To catch you up: Sgt. Adam Fodge is my boyfriend and is in the Oregon National Guard (Alpha Battery of 2/218 Field Artillery). This is his first tour, and he is headed to Iraq. He spent April at Camp Roberts, Calif., and is now at Fort Stewart, Ga. His battery was just informed that it is likely heading to Iraq early because it's doing really well at training.

How am I doing? Surprisingly well. Camp Roberts gave me practice of not being with him. I don't find our separation too difficult right now, and there is nothing to be scared of yet because he's still stateside. After he gets to Iraq, I might start fretting.