The Marine Corps is like a Box of Chocolates

   Forest Gump’s momma was so spot on. Life IS like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get. The Marine Corps can tell your husband he’s going to so and so one day and less than 24 hours later you’ve done a back flip with 5 twists! How many times has this happened to you and your Marine? (I can’t speak from experience with the Army…but I’m guessing we’re in the SAME boat/tank/plane.) If you’re still a new spouse or girlfriend you may not have gotten the full effect of this fabulous game yet.



   Here is a WONEDERFUL example of what I mean: My husband went to the field for a course that lasted a month. About this same time we were due for orders and were told that we would be going to Japan. I was not so excited to be going back to Japan. I grew up in the military, my dad was in the Navy and we’d been stationed at Yakota AFB. By the time his month of training in the field was up I had dealt with moving to Japan and (GASP!) even become a tiny bit excited. My husband called me on his way home (at 3am) to let me know they were done and please don’t shoot him when he walked through the door (since I wasn’t expecting him home until the next afternoon). When he finally got home he told me that we would not be going to Japan. WHAT?!? I was kind of excited that now I don’t have to go there…but wait! Where ARE we going? Fort Knoxx!!!! A few weeks go by and low and behold we’re not going there either, we’re now going to Camp Pendleton for a deployment. This ended up being the last chocolate in our box, other than of course driving a U-haul and towing our car behind it by myself across country.



   You never know what life, or the military will give you. Unlike that box of chocolates though you can’t spit out the ones filled with French nougat and only pick out the caramel chocolates. For those of you facing your least favorite chocolate in the box know you’re not alone and you will make it to the caramels and peanut butter cups.

Casper the friendly Husband

   Let me introduce you to my husband. He’s opaque, white, sort of transparent and had a crush on Christina Ricci in his 1995 movie. If you guessed Casper the Ghost you get a gold star. At least that’s who it feels like I’m married to sometimes. Between deployments, schools and field exercises I sometimes felt like the married single girl, who is now the married single parent. In the past 2 years (exactly today!) I have seen my husband roughly 150 days, give or take a few. Yes, that’s right 150/750 days…not too shabby! Some of you may be thinking “Are you kidding me!?! That’s horrible!” while others may be thinking “Wow, you’re so lucky!!!”



   So many wives are left at home with work or school or kids or all of the above. While we lived at our last duty station (we were only there a year) only 4 or 5 people actually met my husband. Some of the High school kids I worked with would joke that he was pretend or that I kept him locked up in the basement. Yet those days they are home can have so many emotions. There have been times its perfect and like another honeymoon, and others where we’re at each other’s throats because we know he’s just leaving again in a few days and take the stress of it out on one and other.


   What would we do if we saw our husband’s every day? Our relationships would be something completely different for one. I don’t think that I would appreciate my “Casper” and the little things he does for me before he leaves. The bowl that’s kept in the cabinet that’s just out of my reach always seems to find its way to a bottom shelf just before deployment or long field exercises, and that favorite shirt of his finds its way into my dresser after the last pre-deployment bag is packed. Would these things get done if he was just going on a weeklong business trip? HECK NO! It’d be a quick peck on the cheek as he rushed into the cab for the airport, instead it’s a 5 minute long hug because sometimes you don’t know when the next one will come. In 4 years or 20 years, when it’s all said and done I know that it will be wonderful to have our husbands home daily, so until then….embrace the uncertainty ‘cause you know (if you don't know already you soon will) it is an ever changing lifestyle.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate & a Saturday Night Movie

You have your most comfortable pajama’s on, you know the ones I’m talking about! Green sweats with a little black EGA on the hip that are nicely worn in for you by someone else, the t-shirt that has holes but is so soft from years of love…yes those pjs. You’ve got your popcorn, peanut M&M’s (or fill in your favorite candy here), glass of wine and favorite go to movie for nights like this and yet something is missing. Your Marine.

If you’ve been married to your Marine for a while, you know EXACTLY what I’m describing here. It’s the end-of-a-hard-week-Saturday-night-middle-of-deployment (or field op)-me-time of the Marine wife. I’ve done about a hundred of these nights, and will do a hundred more. Sometimes it’s with girlfriends, sometimes alone, and for me, most recently with our new addition, our baby girl. I’m sure when you first married your Marine this was not the Saturday night you thought you’d have. It’s funny that our view of a situation can change after we are into it. It’s hard to remember you were supposed to drain the swamp when you’re knee deep in alligators! Everyone thinks and often says “I know it’s going to be hard, but I love him”. Well you’re marrying him, so I sure hope you love him, but looking back we don’t really know just how hard some of those times will be, do we? You don’t think about how many things he may miss because of a field exercise or deployment when you’re in a beautiful dress and your Marine is standing at the front of a church in the BEST dress uniform of them all, ready to make you his forever. Then the wedding is over and you don’t get a honeymoon until 6 weeks after your wedding because they’re going to (insert your favorite duty obligation here). Or that he’ll miss your pregnancy while "backpacking" across Iraq or Afghanistan, or worse the birth of your baby. You don’t think about him not being there for a birthday, family event, anniversary, or holiday. Why don’t you think about these things? Because you love him and as hard as ALL of those things are, it’s ok. You are a Marine wife; you can handle whatever the Marine Corps can throw at you! PCSing in a month, no problem! Pregnant alone? NO problem! Christmas without your Marine? E’ed Sae’ed! (Happy Holidays in Arabic) You’ll celebrate with other Marine wives. While our husbands adapt and overcome, so do we!I’m not sure about you ladies, but as for me; I wouldn’t change my Marine Corps life and experiences for anything. These experiences have shaped my husband and me into who we are today. They’ve given us great friends, and taken a few. They’ve even brought us closer together through thousands of miles apart. I hope you all are enjoying this Marine Corps roller coaster ride. If you’re having one of those end-of-a-hard-week-Saturday-night-middle-of the-_____________(fill in the blank) nights tomorrow just remember you’re not alone and we will make it. After all, we are Marine Wives!

(For those who are reading that are Army Wives/Navy Wives/Air Force Wives just insert that where needed!) :)

The Start of Something New...ish

I have another blog, but that one is more of a focus on my growing business. A place to talk about products, share ideas, and let you know about sales. I want this place to be for us, the often silent, sometimes unsung hero's of the "Silent Ranks". I would love to get other wives to add to this and contribute posts too! I came across something; or what I thought was something like this earlier this week. I was flabbergasted when I read the blogs latest post about not caring about the safety of anyone else! Did that really just come out of a Marine wife's mouth!?!

So...below is a post to kick this all off. It is also posted under my original blog, but thought it should have a place of it's own. I hope you enjoy reading and that this will grow into a community of support, a place to share experiences, and somewhere to get a laugh!

*Please note that OPSEC will be followed here...no exceptions!