I’m taking a break from our usual-style of blog writing for a slightly different blog. As our profile states, we are both military wives. Jordan is wife to an amazing soldier and I am wife to a spectacular Airman. While the careers of our men are entirely different, the life-styles are very similar, the only difference being that I am just entering the life of a military wife while Jordan is a seasoned pro. Not to say that she’s old, actually I am older than her, she just has years of military wife experience on me. I love this life and I wouldn’t ever choose anything different. I love my husband and wouldn’t leave him for the world. I know for a fact Jordan feels the same way I do. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for your sympathy, just for your understanding. The two do not have to go hand-in-hand. You don’t have to feel sorry for the military wife just to understand the life she lives. Watching my husband leave for his first deployment was NOTHING like watching Jordan’s husband leave for his 5th, 6th or whatever number deployment it is. Both are hard but I know my husband is not going to miss his first child’s first full sentence. I know he won’t miss Christmas with her or Halloween or Thanksgiving. I know this because we don’t have kids on earth. I watched Sean gravitate toward Ana with this emotion in the atmosphere that was too strong and too heavy to deny.
Don’t kid yourself by prattling on about how the man or woman knew what (s)he was getting him or herself into. Most teenagers don’t join the military with joyful plans to find their spouse, have children and then leave them home while they travel to hostile countries to fight a war. Notice the use of the word “joyful.” It plays a key role in that sentence. Most people join because it’s the only life they know, they needed college funding, they couldn’t find a job, their job didn’t produce enough to support their family, they lost a sibling in war and a whole slew of other reasons that could fill a novel. Military spouses are produced when a woman or man falls in love with a military member. You can’t help who your heart adores and you aren’t going to leave their side because of his/her career. You might have an understanding of what you are becoming involved in but you cannot truly understand it until you have lived it. That goes for both the military member and the spouse. I can say that, I’ve been on both sides, now.
So next time you see a wife (or a husband) leaving her spouse for a deployment or when you hear a wife sob while watching the news, don’t roll your eyes and don’t blow her off. She’s sacrificed so much for your freedom. You don’t have to agree with the mission and you don’t have to support the war but you can still support the troops. Remember the soldier who left is someone’s Dad, Mom, sibling, aunt or uncle. Remember the spouse is missing half of their heart. Remember a child is missing their parent. Remember a parent is missing out on watching their child(ren) grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment