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"My dad is leaving for Iraq next month for the third time, and I am really scared for him. What should I do? Brittany, 14, Jeffersonville, Ind. This must be a very stressful time for you and your family. On the one hand, of course you&amp;#039;re really proud of your father for being so brave. On the other, I&amp;#039;m sure a part of you wishes that he would be a little less brave and stay home with you!   Here&amp;#039;s my advice: Talk to your father now, before he leaves, and tell him how you&amp;#039;re feeling. Don&amp;#039;t worry that letting him know you&amp;#039;re anxious will seem selfish--his leaving does affect you. Sometimes when we&amp;#039;re really scared, some of us have a tendency to shut down, but in a situation like this, you and your dad both need to communicate with each other, so you&amp;#039;re going to need to open up.   And P.S.: You can be supportive of him and still let him in on what&amp;#039;s going on inside your head. Try: &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m so proud of you, but I&amp;#039;m afraid too--I&amp;#039;m so scared of losing you.&amp;quot; I have a feeling that once you say these words out loud, the heaviness in your heart will feel a lot lighter.   It&amp;#039;s normal to feel this way--not addressing your concerns is what can make them seem really overwhelming. Once you do tell him, I&amp;#039;m sure your father will be grateful for your feelings, and he might even be able to give you some details about the nature of his work in Iraq, which might make you feel better. At the very least, you will be glad you shared your feelings with him in person before he goes so far away.   Another idea: You two can establish a ritual that you&amp;#039;ll both do while he&amp;#039;s away: Like, you can agree that every Sunday at 9 p.m., you&amp;#039;ll both look at the brightest star in the sky and think of each other. This way, even if you can&amp;#039;t talk, you can feel a little closer to each other.   Finally, if you can talk to your mom about your worries, that might also make you feel better. Even though she won&amp;#039;t be able to tell you for sure that nothing bad will happen to your dad (nobody can promise you that, unfortunately), just having each other as support can make a world of difference--for both of you. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/friends-family/q-and-a/a21/dad-iraq-ds-0606/>