Rachel Lucas has been blogging about the impending deployment of her boyfriend “Rupert” for quite some time.

Today she writes about their last morning together and their goodbyes at the airport as “Rupert” heads off to war. It’s moving and heartfelt, and a great reminder of the sacrifices made by the men and women of our military — and those who love them.

Rachel writes:

He told me something the other day that hit me right where I needed it to. He said that he left the small town he grew up in because he wanted to make a mark on the world, wanted to accomplish something great with his life, and knew he wouldn’t be able to do that by staying home. And the same force is in play now; he’s been given an opportunity to do something that can have a real impact and has real meaning, and it is something that he can be proud to tell of when he’s old.

Emphasis mine.

Rachel, you — and probably even Rupert at this point — have no idea how true this is. I’ve been out of the US Army for 15 years. And to this day, I’m still more proud of my service in the Army than I am of any single other thing I have done or achieved.

So, Rupert’s doing what Rupert’s got to do, and I’m so proud of him that I can hardly stand it. He’s a good man, decent and kind to the bone. Every single morning since he moved in with me last summer, he got up before me, made coffee and brought me a cup, and sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through my hair for a few minutes simply because he knows I love that more than anything. He’s just that kind of man, generous with everything he has, including giving up all the comforts and love of home to go to a shithole place and help solve a problem caused by shitty people.

Thank you, Rupert for your honorable and selfless service to our nation. And thank you Rachel for sharing this with us.

______

Almost forgot to include the very best part of Rachel’s post:

Rupert reminded me to keep my sense of humor about all this, so I’ll close on this note: I hereby declare March 23 as Punch A Hippie In The Nuts Day. All you have to do to celebrate it is find a hippie, ask him how he feels about the military, and if he says anything other than “I love it because those guys make it possible for me to be a worthless hippie”, punch him right in the nuts.

I didn’t read this until today, Rachel — but I’ll try to make up for it a day late today. I have to run down to South Austin later today, where Hippies tend to hang out in droves.