The book concludes with Aaron and his mom going to the airport to meet Aaron's dad and giving him a big hug.
At home, Aaron's dad tells him how proud he is of his son for being so brave when he was away.
"I didn't understand when I was little and my daddy went away," Jackson said.
When Jackson was born, her father was stationed at the West Virginia Air Guard in Martinsburg, W.Va., and the family lived in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
She remembers being in the sixth grade and learning that a plane from her father's base had gone down somewhere in the world.
"My mom called the family services group in Martinsburg and they got word to us that it wasn't dad's plane," Jackson said. "We all rallied at my grandparents' house until we knew."
Jackson remembers to this day what seat she was sitting in at school when she heard about that crash. She knows firsthand how children are affected.
"I wrote the book in about an hour," Jackson said.
What delayed publication were the illustrations that were contracted through her publisher, Authorhouse.
Although not on shelves yet in bookstores, "I'll Miss You Daddy" may be obtained online through Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, and Authorhouse.
"I'm flying to Flagstaff, Ariz., soon to get an agent," Jackson said.
She has written two other books, including one in which a mother is in the military and away from home.
The third is for middle school and high school youth who are dealing with an absent parent in the military.
"I'm getting great feedback," Jackson said. "A friend has a daughter in the second grade and she waited until her dad came home so he could read it to her."
Next year, Jackson will be speaking at the University of North Carolina for a professor who teaches children's literature.
Jackson's father is retired from the military and her mom is retired from Shepherd University. They have moved to South Carolina.
Jackson has a daughter, Annaston Cree, who is 8, and a son, Hayden Souders, who is 22 months old.
She lives in Smithsburg with her fianc and is marketing director/patient care coordinator at Ryan Physical Therapy.
