Ken finally came home, thank God.  Vietnam wasn't like Afghanistan, or Iraq.  In Vietnam, the pilots flew multiple sorties over and over all day.  They didn't have drones.  They didn't have a lot of things.

He had to serve four more months before he could retire, so he came back to Oklahoma in January on leave, but then had orders to go to El Toro, California.  "I think it would be best for the children if they stayed in school here.  I hate to move them again.  So, why don't you all stay here and I'll go do the four months and come home on the weekends when I can get a plane," he said.

I argued with him, but he didn't want the three kids to change school in the middle of the year.  So off he went to California.  He had a hard time saying goodbye again.

He had been gone a couple of days when I called a conference.  The four of us sat down at the kitchen table and I said, "We are going to take a vote.  How many of you would rather move to California for the next four months?"  Four hands went up.  "Then it's settled.  Go pack your backpacks with three changes of clothes and a bunch of books to read and we will leave in the morning."

I threw every thing we might need to "camp out" for a few months in the trunk of the car.  And we headed west.  I called Ken, "We voted and you were outvoted.  We are already in the car on our way."

You could tell he was pleased.  He had wanted to do what was best for the children concerning school, but was very lonesome and glad we out voted him.  "Come on," he said. "I'll get housing and have one of the guys fly me to Albuquerque.  Meet me at the airport and I'll drive the rest of the way with you."

It was an excellent decision.  We had a blast for four months.  Beaches, free tickets to Disneyland for returning vets and families.  Sometimes, you have to have a family conference and take a vote.

Ruth 1:16 "…Entreat  me not to leave you, or to return from following after you: for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge…"