CNN Brings new Dads back from Afghanistan in time for Christmas

When mommy and daddy both deploy
CNN
By Kelly Wallace
December 20, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Frances Johnson and her husband will be deployed to Afghanistan at the same time
The Johnsons join the roughly 681 Marine Corps couples who have deployed at the same time since 2011

"I've heard that I'm a bad mom," said Johnson, referring to some criticism she has received
What will get her through her 6- to 12-month deployment? Thoughts of her reunion, she said

Editor's note: Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family, career and life. She is a mom of two. Read her other columns and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.

(CNN) -- For several weeks, Frances Johnson had been telling her 2-year-old son Noah the following: "Mommy and Daddy are going to go to work for a while ... but we always come back for you.
"We always come back for you."

Noah is too young to understand that his mommy and daddy's "work" involves deploying to Afghanistan just around the new year, and that "a while" could be between six and 12 months. But there are signs he seems to grasp how his life is about to dramatically change, Johnson said.

When she said goodbye to him at the airport, which would be the last time she'd see him in person for months, he wanted to come along and said, "Me mama work?"

Johnson, who didn't want to cry in front of Noah for fear of making it even harder on him, couldn't hold back the tears.
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