When I came home after that year, to be perfectly honest with you, one of the biggest fears I had was that Jacob would play strange—who's this weird guy who wants to hug me? We started from being strangers. I knew him through pictures. I knew him through Anne's stories on the phone. We needed time. I have no doubt in my mind that we needed time.
After seeing the benefits of that time together when I took leave for Megan, it absolutely solidified that on a personal level, as a father, as a member of our family, I needed that time. Luckily, now things are really great. I mostly credit that to the time I was able to get off with Megan when Jacob was still relatively young.
It really hit home that this will make a difference in people's lives when the Ottawa Sun ran an article not too long ago on this issue. Of course, I'm kind of curious, so I looked at the comments that readers made. The very first one that I read was from a guy in Kandahar who returned last month and his wife was due right when he returned. His benefits had been shortened due to his deployment. He personally thanked me on that posting. It felt amazing to know that we could make a difference for one family, for 100 families, for families who are affected by this from now on.