My New Life...

My husband joined the Army this year. I grew up in an Army household, two of my three brothers are in the military. Being surrounded by it all for so long I've become accustomed to the structure and protocol. I have nothing against the military lifestyle, but I just didn't think it would be a good fit for me. I swore up and down I would never marry a military man.

My consolation: He wasn't in the military when I met him.

Now he is in training, getting ready for all that is ahead. He joined the National Guard, so eventually things will become normal (I think). We shall see.

Several of my friends are in a similar situation. They all have soldiers for husbands/fiances. Most of those men are not home right now. Its not easy being separated from those that you love. You want them close, you want to spend time with them, to just simply SEE them. This is very hard to deal with. I have been in other long distance relationships before, and anyone who has done that knows what I'm talking about.

Military life is different. You are not only dealing with the separation, you also have to deal with the unknown. "Are they safe?", "Do they have everything they need?", "When will I talk with them again?", "When are they coming home?, and God forbid the question, "Are they going to come home at all?".  Most of the time a quick phone call is all you get to reassure yourself that it is all right.

The thing is, you have to keep believing it is okay. Life keeps going forward, whether you like it to or not. I hate to use the old "road of life" example, but it sort of fits. What I mean is, when you are in a relationship you two are traveling along the same path. The soldier leaves and that path splits off. You both still have to keep traveling, just parallel to each other. There is no way the soldier will have the chance to go back to where you left off, so there is no point in "staying put" on your path. You both will have bumps and detours along the way, but you will eventually meet up again.

So now I've embarked on my own new path in life. Our daughter and I stay home, eagerly awaiting when our path meets up with my husband's again.