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!) :)
I love this! It is definitely true! I have been with my marine for almost 3 years now and almost married 1! We got married last October inbetween work ups and then he deployed shortly after. And even though he has missed holidays and family events and I have my share of those hard lonely nights I would not trade any of this for anything! I love my marine and being a marine's wife! During this deployment which is our first we have grown so much and it has definitely brought us closer together. I have also learned just how strong I really am and just how strong our love is. I've met so many wonderful wives during this deployment that if it wasn't for this deployment I never would of met and we have this awesome friendship that I never could have imagined. I look forward to the rest of mine and my hubby's adventure through the military!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you love it! Please feel free to pass this along to anyone and everyone. I'd really like for this to grow and be a place for Military wives (of whatever branch) to get laughs, support, and know we're ALL in the same boat. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this! I am so glad to know that I am not the only one feels this way. My husband was a Marine (Once...Always around our house...oorah) before going into the Army so I know exactly what you're talking about. I have done pregnancy and birth alone twice, I have done more then one Christmas alone, surgery, a car accident, home maintenance disasters, hurricanes, and so much more alone. I've survived deployment after deployment in between field ops. You cannot sit and cry over him missing your special day(s) because it only hurts yourself and your relationship by doing so and it doesn't change the fact that he can't be there when you want him to be. You can also rely on your friends who have "been there, done that" to help you get through the special days during deployments and you smile through them for your Marine and his morale. Even though I've gone through so much by myself during my time with my Marine/soldier, I wouldn't change it for the world. ♥
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