When Mommy Comes Marching Home Again
By Anthony Gadson
Pilot News
PLYMOUTH� America�s war against terrorism seems to in lands far away.
For the Joni and Ted Hayden of Plymouth, it got a lot closer to home after a phone call on Sunday.
Joni Hayden was told to be ready to be mobilized at 7 p.m.. on Tuesday, receiving two days� notice before departure. She was still waiting to receive the call to know where she would be going for duty.
�I could be gone for up to a year, but I really have no idea where I�m going to be going or what my mission is,� Joni said about her state of mind.
She is part of the Marine Corps Bridge Co., out of Battle Creek, Mich.. What makes leaving so hard for her is the fact t she must leave her husband, Ted, and her 20-month-old daughter, Bethany.
�It�s really tough for me to leave her because her birthday is coming up and I�m going to be missing those kinds of things,� Joni said. �But once I get set up at where I�m going, I�ll be able to get an address and receive mail.�
Joni was told to be on alert to leave ever since 9/11, but the call to go to duty still shook up the family.
�I was playing basketball at the high school, when I heard that I should go home because she had received the call,� Joni�s husband, Ted recalled.
�I knew that the time to go would be coming any time by just looking at the newspapers and seeing other soldiers leave,� Joni said.
The call to duty will also put a greater burden on Ted�s shoulders, as he will now have to carry the load in raising Bethany alone.
�He has already had to pull out of his own business,� Joni said about her husband�s change of plans. �There is just no way he can run a business, with his other responsibilities now.�
He will be receiving help from family and friends in watching over Bethany until Joni returns. The family has already gathered at the Hayden home by the time Joni was set to take off.
�The past two days have been really hectic. Our families have been doing a lot of driving to get here before I leave,� Joni said. �There has also just been a pretty big lack of sleep with all the preparations that we have been making in getting prepared for me to leave.�
Her call is set to be a maximum of one year away, but Joni knows that all that can change for any number of reasons.
�It�s set for one year, but anything can happen and my mission can change,� Joni concluded.
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