10.5.2009 | Monday

Life as a Household 6!

category: Army Life, Family Stuff
tag(s):
2 Comments

reading time: 2 minutes

NOTE:  Click here for a definition of Household 6!

Sometimes something happens that just slaps you in the face with just where your spouse is.  Saturday morning, I got a call from my FRG (Family Readiness Group, the unit support group for family members) leader to call my people with a message notification.  Our brigade had a soldier KIA from an incident with an enemy insurgent, along with several injured.  On the same day there was another incident with soldiers from a different battalion in which a few soldiers were injured when their Humvee hit an IED.  They were very lucky in that none of the injuries were life-threatening.  But the part that hit close to home was that one of the soldiers in the second incident was the stepdad of one of Donovan’s close friends.  He is going to be okay, but it definately brings the reality of it all home.

I have a lot of civilian wife friends who tell me that they don’t know how I do it, how I live like this, the wife of a soldier.  I guess most of the time I don’t really think about it because it’s what is normal to me.  I am used to the absences and the crazy hours.  I have gotten used to being a married single mother.  It also helps that I have been a soldier and been there and done that.  And, in some ways, I like it like this and so does Corey.  It deosn’t mean we love each other less, but we are both strong people and the absences make us appreciate each other more when we are together.  I suppose there is also a certain level of denial, of sticking my head in the sand, involved with the revolving door of sending your husband to war.  You have to learn how to compartment your mind sometimes, because dwelling on where they are and what may be happening there can become an unhealthy obsession.  But it is times like this, when the reality hits close to home, that you really remember just what is at stake.

But I believe in our military and I am a soldier through and through, even if I am no longer active duty.  I will always be a soldier at heart, just like my husband.  And we do what we do so others don’t have to.  Just as many sacrifices are made by the families of our troops as by the troops themselves sometimes.  They always say to hug a troop or  hug a vet, but I say, hug a family member, too!!

rate this post
::spread the love::

2 responses to “Life as a Household 6!

  1. Yup – I’m one of those who doesn’t know how you do it. I suppose if you look at the daily lives of women throughout history, what you experience with your husband gone in perilous circumstances isn’t all that different from what women of the past dealt with. You probably would have made excellent Vikings! Me – not so much. I’d be a wreck every day and I would never sleep at night.

    I’m so sorry that there was bad news this weekend. I hope and pray that we can get this sorted out soon so all of our families can be safely back together. (((hugs)))

    Gin

     
  2. Soldier Daddy

    Hey baby! Just thought I would jump on real quick and see how things were going. I didn’t know that one of the guys was the step-dad of one of Dono’s friends. Hell, I don’t even know what’s going on over here until you tell me 90% of the time! LOL

    I love you, and miss you
    Corey

     

Leave a Reply