Like dozens of other families in and around the Miss-Lou, the Bean family of Jonesville are having to make do for months while their loved ones are serving with the 1087th Transportation Company in Iraq.

But with the aid of friends, high technology &045; and each other &045; they’re making it day by day.

Earlier this week, Kathy Bean sat on the love seat in her mother-in-law’s living room, facing a Christmas tree that’s decorated for each season of the year. Among the multi-colored fall leaves, however, a red, white and blue service banner stood out, complete with the name, rank, unit and deployment date of her husband, Spc. Scott Bean of the 1087th.

By her side are the couple’s two children: Brady, 5, and Anna Kate, born while her father was overseas.

Scott, who worked on an offshore oil rig, found out when making up National Guard training last December that he would be deployed in February. &uot;It was Valentine’s Day&uot; when his family saw him off at Fort Polk, La., Kathy said, hugging Brady closer to her side.

The time between the date the soldiers reported to Fort Polk and the actual deployment date were the worst part, since the soldiers and their families wouldn’t know from one day to the next when their loved ones would be sent over, said Susan Bean, taking a seat.

&uot;It was an emotional roller coaster,&uot; she said. &uot;I didn’t know, each time I saw him, whether that was going to be in the last time I saw him.&uot;

Since then, each time the family gets to see or hear from him has been a precious moment.

Kathy, a stay-at-home mom since just before Anna Kate was born, hears from her husband almost every day &045; sometimes early in the morning or late at night, though from her smile one can tell she’s glad to be awakened by his voice. The longest she’s gone without hearing his voice was about six days while he was on one of his many missions from Kuwait into Iraq.

&uot;People send him phone cards,&uot; Susan said, adding that even when her son is on a mission, he tries to find a pay phone to make the call. &uot;And that’s not easy.&uot;

&uot;He (Scott) is the one that keeps me going, not the other way around. He keeps saying, ‘I’ll be home soon.’ And I’ll say, ‘Is there something you know that you’re not telling me?’ And he’ll say, ‘No, but relatively, I’ll be home soon.’&uot;

Then there are the e-mails and videos &045; the latter including footage of Thanksgiving dinner and tapes of Louisiana State University football games &045; the family sends in return.

In the e-mails and telephone calls, Scott doesn’t want to talk much about the work or conditions in Iraq, where his unit mans gun trucks escorting convoys of military personnel and contractors. Instead, he wants to know about the little things, Kathy said.

&uot;He wants to know everything,&uot; she said. &uot;I’ll tell him, ‘Well, I washed clothes this morning.’ He wants to know how many deer and squirrels (his father) killed.&uot;

Perhaps most importantly to a proud father, Kathy even invested in a Webcam so her husband can see her and the children via the Internet.

And during the telephone calls, Kathy said, &uot;I hold the phone up to (Anna Kate’s) ear so she can hear her daddy’s voice. He talks to her. And I’m showing her pictures of him, too.&uot;

Long-distance technology also played a part in one of the most special moments in Scott and Kathy’s life &045; Anna Kate’s birth, just four months ago &045; although not in quite the way they’d hoped.

Starting when they left home and continuing at Natchez Community Hospital, Susan and Kathy e-mailed Scott throughout the hours leading up to the birth. They couldn’t call Scott, so Susan e-mailed him phone card numbers to use to call them every hour &045; a necessity, since the military would only pay for one call if the hospital she used was not in Louisiana.

&uot;We wanted him to hear her first cry,&uot; Susan said, adding that the timing didn’t quite work out that way.

For Kathy, those moments brought a mix of tears, both happy and sad.

&uot;He gave me a letter and said, ‘Don’t open it until after she’s born,&uot; Kathy said, blinking back tears. In addition to expressing his love, &uot;it just said that he knew I did a good job and that he was proud of me.&uot;

&uot;It was an emotional day,&uot; Susan said.

But the day Scott got to see his little girl for the first time, it seems, was high on their list of emotional moments, too.

In early October, the 1087th received a two-week leave. Since they had just found out they would probably be on active duty in Iraq until April &045; not this fall, as originally hoped &045; the moments were even more precious to the soldiers and their loved ones.

Soldiers are never sure whether their small children will know who they are when they return. But in this case, the photos tell it all, with Anna Kate relaxing on her father’s shoulder as he looked down with a mixture of pride and happy disbelief at the daughter they’d tried two years to have.

&uot;When he saw her, he was proud. You could see it in his eyes,&uot; Kathy said, looking down at Anna Kate who, with her brilliant blue eyes, looks just like her father’s baby pictures. &uot;And Anna Kate fell asleep right on his chest.&uot;

To top it off, Scott got to watch as both Brady and Anna Kate were baptized at the family’s church, Trinity Presbyterian of Jonesville.

That was just one of many precious moments Scott got to spend with his family during his leave.

Those included heaping helpings of his favorite fried venison. &uot;He’s lost a lot of weight over there … the heat made him not want to eat,&uot; Kathy said.

He also spent plenty of time in the outdoors with Brady &045; hunting, fishing, riding four-wheelers or building a treehouse that is now a favorite hangout for neighborhood children. Scott even brought Brady his own &uot;desert uniform,&uot; complete with patches.

The visit did a world of good for the kindergartner, who sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night calling for his father, Kathy said.

With Scott gone again, and a specific date for his return not known, life is sometimes tough.

&uot;When he worked offshore, he’d be gone sometimes, but I miss knowing I could just pick up the phone and call him if I wanted to,&uot; said Susan who, like Kathy, rarely watches the news any more. &uot;And I don’t like the uncertainty of it all. Letting him go in October was harder (than the first time). Then, we didn’t know what we were getting into. Now we know it’s dangerous.&uot;

And it’s also the little things they miss &045; especially Kathy, with two children.

&uot;It would be nice for someone else to give them a bath once in a while,&uot; Kathy said. &uot;But I respect his decision. He loves it, and he’s proud of what he’s doing, and I’m proud of him.&uot;

But just as family and friends surrounded Kathy in the delivery room four months ago, they’re surrounding both Susan and Kathy now.

Even though Kathy said caring for the children keeps her mind occupied and &uot;keeps me going,&uot; Susan &045; who lives just next door to Kathy &045; helps her with the children, babysitting for her daughter-in-law when she needs &uot;to get around adults for a while,&uot; as Kathy put it. &uot;She (Susan) is probably tired of being a second mom to my kids.&uot; If she is tired, Susan doesn’t show it, changing seats to sit close to Brady.

They also said the members of the Family Support Group of the 1087th also help keep each other afloat during the hard times and serve as an informal news network, passing on the latest bits of news about the unit via telephone and at support group meetings.

The members of the group, including Susan, also stay busy gathering food, powdered drinks, toiletries, videotaped movies and a host of other comforts of home to the troops. His family even sent Scott a coffee maker with Community Coffee and a microwave with popcorn, as well as some Tony Chachere’s to spice the food up a bit.

Opening her living room door, Susan shows visitors her family’s latest project &045; decorating the dining room in red, white and blue, down to the paper cups and plates they’ll use for his coming-home party.

&uot;And we’re not finished yet,&uot; Susan said, closing the door behind her. They’ll be finished when Scott comes home.