For All of You Military Wives...

[Jynohn]

I saw this on military.com today and thought it was fitting to post here...

What is it to love a Soldier? It's being alone for months on end, living for that one moment, that one kiss when you see each other again. It's putting on a brave face, and pretending nothing is wrong in public while secretly wanting to die inside. It's waiting for the mail everyday, praying for a letter, or becoming attached to the phone hoping he'll call. It's praying that he will be ok, he'll return home safe. It's finally realizing what it's like to have real love; true, pure love. It's no fairytale by any means. Military relationships are the product of many tears born both in happiness and despair, nights alone wondering where he is, if he's safe. It's looking at pictures, knowing that's the only way you can see his face, calling your voicemail to hear his voice, and not washing his clothes until they've lost his scent. But it's all worth it in the end, because you know you have one of the purest loves in the world because your Soldier truly knows the meaning of Honor, Courage, and Commitment, not only to the military, but to you. And that makes everything worthwhile.

 

[Auggietina]

100 % true!

Thanks for sharing and making me cry at work!

DH has been home for 6 months now, but the memories are still very fresh.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Wow I can still relate 4 1/2 months later. Thanks for posting and hope your DH demobs quickly!

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

My husband landed in Iraq 3 days ago. Thanks for that and how true it is.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Wow. Well said!

Hoping all of our brave soldiers come home safely to their families very soon.

 

[Fanci]

 

[Alice28]

True, so true. I missed a call from DH today & have already replayed the voicemail twice to hear his voice.

 

[4nana]

Thank you for sharing such a nice reminder and beautiful message of hope. I must have missed your post on your DH's return while I was away and am so happy and relieved to hear he made it home safe and sound. I can only imagine how happy the holidays will be for you and your family. Thanks to you and your soldier for your sacrifices, it is greatly appreciated. May all our boys (and girls) return home safe and sound soon. BTW, I love your siggie pic!

 

[kc10family]

A Tribute To Military Spouses"

Over the years I have talked a lot about military spouses,
how special they are and the price they pay for freedom too.

The funny thing about it, is most military spouses don't consider themselves
different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound together
not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is
in the very essence of what love truly is. Is there truly a difference? You
have to decide for yourself.

Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a home and
putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know they'll
live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so they can be
transplanted frequently.Other spouses decorate a home with flair and
personality that will last a lifetime.

Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with the knowledge that
no two base houses have the same size windows or same size rooms. Curtains
have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like
puzzle pieces.Other spouses have immaculate living rooms and are seldom
used. Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The
coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still looks
pretty good.

Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and know they
won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive. Military
spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know that they won't see
them for a month, or for a remote, a year. They are lonely, but they will
survive.

Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a
check out for getting the hose reconnected. Military spouses will cut the
water off and fix it themselves.Other spouses get used to saying hello to
friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying good-bye
to friends made the last two years.

Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next
year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in
yet another new school next year and whether that school will be the worst
in the city...again.

Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special events,
birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games, graduation, and even the
birth of a child. Military spouses only count on each other; because they
realize that the Flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. It has to
be that way.

Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled across the
globe and take them down when the troops come home. Military spouses wear
yellow ribbons around their hearts and they never go away.

Other spouses worry about being late for Mom's Thanksgiving dinner. Military
spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for Dad's funeral.And
other spouses are touched by the television program showing an elderly lady
putting a card down in the front of a long, black wall that has names on it.
The card simply says, "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. You would have been sixty
today." A military spouse is the lady with the card. The wall is the Vietnam
Memorial.

I would never say military spouses are better or worse than other spouses
are. But I will say there is a difference. And I will say that our country
asks more of military spouses than asked of other spouses. And I will say
without hesitation that military spouses pay just as high a price for
freedom as do their active duty husbands or wives. Perhaps the price they
pay is even higher.

Dying in service to our Country isn't near as hard as loving someone who has
died in service to our Country, and having to live without them.
God Bless our military spouses for all they freely give...
And God Bless America.

By Colonel Steven Arrington

 

[PrincessaC]

Hubby comes home on the 23rd!!

 

[Alice28]

Just got the OFFICIAL news that DH is supposed to be at Ft Lewis WA 1/9/06! Less than a month and about a week earlier than we thought.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Commissary Roadblock
by Paige Swiney

It was just another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary.

My husband was off teaching young men to fly. My daughters were going about their daily activities knowing I would return to them at the appointed time bearing, among other things, their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras that never had to be written down on a grocery list.

My grocery list, by the way, was in my 16-month old daughter’s mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four aisles of needed items would have to come from memory.

I was turning on to the hygiene/baby aisle while extracting the last of my list from my daughter’s mouth when I nearly ran over an old man.

This man clearly had no appreciation for the fact that I had 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old from tumbling class, and get to school where my 12-year-old and her carpool mates would be waiting. I knew men didn’t belong in a commissary, and this old guy was no exception.

He stood in front of the soap selections staring blankly, as if he’d never had to choose a bar of soap in his life. I was ready to bark and order at him when I realized there was a tear on his face. Instantly, this grocery aisle roadblock was transformed into a human.

“Can I help you find something?” I asked.

He hesitated, and then told me he was looking for soap. “Any one in particular?” I continued.

“Well, I’m trying to find my wife’s brand of soap.”

I started to hand him my cell phone to call her when he said, “She died a year ago, and I just want to smell her again.”

Chills ran down my spine. I don’t’ think the 22,000-pound Mother of all Bombs could have had the same impact. As tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn’t seem so important. Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza.

I spent the remainder of my time in the commissary that day listening to a man tell the story of how important his wife was to him—how she took care of their children while he served our country.

A retired, decorated World War II pilot who flew missions to protect Americans still needed the protection of a woman who served him at home.

My life was forever changed that day. Every time my husband works late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the commissary. Sometimes the monotony of laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping and taxi driving leaves military wives feeling empty—the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands come home and don’t want to or can’t talk about work.

We need to be reminded of the important role we fill for our family and for our country.

 

[Jynohn]

Congratulations to both of you on your soldiers' upcoming return! Can't think of a nicer reason to celebrate the holidays. Hope the remaining time goes by quickly for you...

Jynohn

 

[poohbear1029]

You people are killing me here!!! Hormonal pregnant women whose husbands are TDY this week should not read these things!

Thank you for sharing!

On another message board, a military spouse put it great......we are actually very lucky. By our husbands being away now again we get a luxury that most spouses dont. We get to fall in love with our husband all over again each and every time they come home to us safely! There is nothing like that "honeymoon" phase when they come home again!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

On another message board, a military spouse put it great......we are actually very lucky. By our husbands being away now again we get a luxury that most spouses dont. We get to fall in love with our husband all over again each and every time they come home to us safely! There is nothing like that "honeymoon" phase when they come home again!

So, are you saying I should send my husband away for a while?

 

[poohbear1029]

So, are you saying I should send my husband away for a while?

Come on....you've never uttered the following words in a moment of frustration: "dont you have a TDY coming up?"

When we were dating and first married it seemed like he was always gone...we told people it was the secret to a good relationship....less time to fight!

 

[poohbear1029]

Commissary Roadblock
by Paige Swiney

It was just another harried Wednesday afternoon trip to the commissary.

My husband was off teaching young men to fly. My daughters were going about their daily activities knowing I would return to them at the appointed time bearing, among other things, their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras that never had to be written down on a grocery list.

My grocery list, by the way, was in my 16-month old daughter’s mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four aisles of needed items would have to come from memory.

I was turning on to the hygiene/baby aisle while extracting the last of my list from my daughter’s mouth when I nearly ran over an old man.

This man clearly had no appreciation for the fact that I had 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping, pick up my 4-year old from tumbling class, and get to school where my 12-year-old and her carpool mates would be waiting. I knew men didn’t belong in a commissary, and this old guy was no exception.

He stood in front of the soap selections staring blankly, as if he’d never had to choose a bar of soap in his life. I was ready to bark and order at him when I realized there was a tear on his face. Instantly, this grocery aisle roadblock was transformed into a human.

“Can I help you find something?” I asked.

He hesitated, and then told me he was looking for soap. “Any one in particular?” I continued.

“Well, I’m trying to find my wife’s brand of soap.”

I started to hand him my cell phone to call her when he said, “She died a year ago, and I just want to smell her again.”

Chills ran down my spine. I don’t’ think the 22,000-pound Mother of all Bombs could have had the same impact. As tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn’t seem so important. Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza.

I spent the remainder of my time in the commissary that day listening to a man tell the story of how important his wife was to him—how she took care of their children while he served our country.

A retired, decorated World War II pilot who flew missions to protect Americans still needed the protection of a woman who served him at home.

My life was forever changed that day. Every time my husband works late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the commissary. Sometimes the monotony of laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping and taxi driving leaves military wives feeling empty—the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands come home and don’t want to or can’t talk about work.

We need to be reminded of the important role we fill for our family and for our country.

I love the older veterans in the commissary...they are always so sweet to me...and they always ask DH for help getting stuff off the high shelves 'cause he's tall and they've shrunk with age.

 

[PrincessaC]

You people are killing me here!!! Hormonal pregnant women whose husbands are TDY this week should not read these things!

Thank you for sharing!

On another message board, a military spouse put it great......we are actually very lucky. By our husbands being away now again we get a luxury that most spouses dont. We get to fall in love with our husband all over again each and every time they come home to us safely! There is nothing like that "honeymoon" phase when they come home again!

Nothing like the "honeymoon" phase

 

[Jynohn]

Come on....you've never uttered the following words in a moment of frustration: "dont you have a TDY coming up?"

DH has been home exactly one month and those words have already come out of my mouth. That honeymoon phase was fun while it lasted!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Come on....you've never uttered the following words in a moment of frustration: "dont you have a TDY coming up?"

guilty

I use his TDY times to rearrange furniture, paint rooms, and all the other stuff he doesn't want me to do