It's going to be a LONG year.

My little brother Tommy, who is a police officer, began a year-long police mission in Afghanistan today. He just completed 2 weeks of training in Virginia, then flew out last night to Dubai. Next stop: Kabul, where he will undergo further training before getting sent to, well, wherever it is they'll be sending him. He'll be working with Afghan police forces, mentoring and training and assisting them as they learn how the police in a democratic society operates.

Of course, as soon as he told us this summer that he was doing this, things in Afghanistan blew up, both literally and figuratively. I'll be praying every day for his safe return - next October 1.

I'm very proud of him, but I would gladly sacrifice the next year of my life if I could jump ahead to 10/1/2010 and have him back home, safe and in one piece.