2024/Kylan-

A significant event in my family history was when my dad went to Afghanistan. He was there for two years. My mom got really stressed and kept a journal. We moved to Raleigh to be closer to our family. We still call it the dark years.

During the 2 years that he was gone, my dad would come to visit sometimes. He always had to shave his deployment mustache when he came back. My mom would try to chill while he was here. She never seemed to be able to though.

When my dad was gone, my mom was really stressed. She wrote in her journal at night. This was the only time that she could. I’ll read it sometimes. It's definitely hard single parenting with four kids.

We moved to Raleigh to be closer to our family. We stayed with our grandparents until we bought a house. We got to see our cousins. I think it really helped us to see them. It definitely helped my mom to be able to have other people to help with us.

This was a really hard time for my family. We are probably better for it though. These were the dark years for us. Sometimes we still joke about it. I’m glad it’s over though.