Deployment Support

Well the house is almost ready for the inspection I know will come when my wife returns in a week or so.  Talk about an exciting weekend – I said good bye to my son on Friday night and then did not want to leave the house on Saturday because he was going to call when he landed in Kyrgyzstan.  Buddy appreciated the quality time together but he’s such a pain the ass when snow is on the ground because he wants to pass every waking moment outside playing.  I don’t have the same energy level and he thinks I’m wasting valuable play time when I’m watching movies; eerily similar to the wife.  The phone call finally came and my son is safely ensconced in Bishkek for the next couple of months.  I know the next couple of months are going to be tough because he’s in love with a great gal back here.  During my time in the military this happened to my wife and I numerous times, too many to count.  Sometimes the separations were only a few weeks while others lasted nearly a year.  This was a problem early in our married life because she felt she had to show me how much she was missing me and was very emotional.  When I was a major and again heading out for a six month deployment she was mentored by an older Army wife who told her that she was placing me in danger.  The older wife said that when soldiers deploy they needed to focus completely on the mission and not be distracted by the situation at home.  She said she knew it was tough but that an Army wife had the toughest job in the Army and the best way to show her love for me was to support me.  To her credit, my wife took this advice to heart, even though it went against every fiber of her being.  When I was an infantry battalion commander and again headed out she spent a great deal of time with the wives who remained behind and passed on this same message.  We were very successful in the mission, with hardly any rear detachment issues, and a lot of the credit goes to her.  She may be small but she’s made of a very tough iron, forged with a quarter of a century duty as an Army wife.  I saw the same thing as she was saying goodbye to our son.  She didn’t want him to worry about us and only provided support and love.  Today I finished up our taxes – did I say this was an exciting weekend!  I’m headed out shortly to visit a sick cousin and see a couple of movies.  Buddy is still exhausted from our morning hike.  Slogging through snow is not as easy as it looks, for either of us.