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Days, weeks, or even months…could you go that long without seeing a loved one? Some students here do. They have loved ones serving around the country and overseas to keep us safe, day and night.

About a year and a half ago my brother, James, left to join the Navy. Watching him leave was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. This got me thinking; what’s it like for friends and family of other service members?

Senior Maddie Guthrie recently watched her boyfriend, Jake, leave for the Marines and not being able to talk to him as been hard on her.

“I haven’t heard his voice in months now. I get handwritten letters from him all the time and I’m constantly writing him letters,” said Guthrie. “I’m legit counting down the days until I get to see him again.”

Junior Riley Wynn felt a similar way when her brother, Evan, also left for the Marines.

“While Evan was away my parent’s talked about him ALL the time and it was hard to hear about him, but not much from him,” said Wynn.

From my own experience I can tell you that I had a very hard time, and my brother was only gone for two months for basic training, while both Guthrie and Wynn had to wait three months.

While we were going through a hard time without them, Evan, Jake, and James were going through a whole lot themselves. We were missing them, while they were missing everyone and missing home, so it was important to support them.

Guthrie knew how important this was to Jake. No matter how bad she wanted him to stay, she knew what was best.

“It was hard at first, and it’s still is hard, but he’s talked to me about this ever since 8th grade. There is nothing I want more than to see him fulfill his dream and to be right along his side. I told him we would be in it together when we were 13, and I meant it,” said Guthrie.

While my brother was in basic training, and still sometimes now, he’d ask me about how things are going here. When things got tough for him, he would ask me to take his mind off it for him, and tell him what he’s missing at home. At times he would want to know about our family, how hockey was going, if I still screeched on the violin, or he’d ask me to send him pictures to see how my photography skills were improving.

Although this might have been hard on all of us, nothing amounts to the pride we have in these men.

The moment I saw my brother in his uniform, I knew that all the pain my family experienced while we were missing him was worth it. He had been pushed to his limits, and had become a stronger man than the woman I will ever become. Nothing can amount to the pride he had and the pride of my grandfather watching him follow in his footsteps.

Seeing them go through these changes might make you want to make a change in yourself.

“Of course I was sad when he left, but I was beyond proud of him after what he went through and I’ve thought about going down the same path myself,” said Wynn.

In the end, all that matters is that they are fulfilling their dreams.

“I am so proud of him. Seeing it actually happen, seeing a future fall in place is just incredible,” said Guthrie. “Of course I miss him, but it’s what he had to do and I wouldn’t want it any other way for him. He is my hero.”

For the time being it may be tough for us to not see them but for the 3, 6, and 8 years they’re gone, we know that they’re doing incredible things, and we’re going to stick with them.

If you have a loved one away, or one that is going away soon, savor the times they’re home and support them no matter what, we may have it tough without them, but we can be nothing but proud of the things they will do.