Many of you might hate me for this, but I must confess that I was, in a way, ready to see her go. I had, like many spoiled Americans, begun to take the protection she gave me for granted. This never swayed her commitment one bit.   

I was now home and I no longer thought she was needed for protection. Then the days, weeks, and months began to go by, and the symptoms of her absence began to reveal themselves. That cold feeling of having your “6” exposed began to creep in. Nobody was on watch anymore. Hypervigilance returned and my personal reaction to losing Zoe began to go sideways.