Wednesday, April 7, 2010

When you start to whine...

As you all know, Joe will be deployed to Iraq for a year. And maybe it's just me, but I felt like I should be able to complain about it as much as I wanted. Until I look beyond my nose and realized that maybe our situation isn't as bad as I imagine it to be.

I have a great family living next door to me. The 43 year old daughter loves Rigel and is always up for a chat. She thinks I remind her of her daughter. The wife is smart and witty. And the husband is 70, a retired Marine with more than 20 years in the military. We talked about Joe's deployment and a little bit about what he went through. I lived here for 2 months, wallowing in my own deployment sorrow not knowing the pain that was only a wall away from me. His name is Frank. He never drank or smoked. He's been a good person, dedicating his life to serving his country in a time of WAR not "conflict." Marrying a single mother and her 4 children and being the father they never had.

Frank has stage 4 terminal cancer.

The doctors have given him less than 6 months. He didn't say anything to me, that he was sick, for weeks. We walked our dogs and talked about Colorado Springs. Talked about a husband leaving his wife, selfishly assuming it was about my deployment, not realizing he was talking about himself.

So when you feel like whining about your situation, remember that someone always has it so much worse that you do. My husband is gone now, but I know he will be home in less than a year. So yeah, it annoys me when someone complains about their husband's 4 month long deployment to Kuwait. And how he doesn't talk enough when he's online.

But when I start to feel bad about our current situation, I think about the hearts that are in so much pain next door. Be sad. Miss your husband. But realize that the world keeps spinning around you. And appreciate what you do have right now.

6 comments:

Geezees Custom Canvas Art said...

So true

Dawna said...

Thank you for the wonderful reminder, Sara! It could always be worse, I know. Still not easy (for anyone), but it does help to put it in perspective. :-)

Erin said...

It is hard sometimes to keep it in perspective. And then you hear stories like this and it really reminds you to count your blessing.

Sarah said...

Hi! I know this is totally random, but I found your blog through Southern Belle's blog. =) My hubby's name is Joe too, and I'm from Ft. Smith, AR! I thought it was totally awesome (and random) that I found someone who's kind of close to home...not to mention our hubbies and us have the same name. =) My Joe is in the Army as well, but we're a little new to this.

Rachel said...

Wow, you never really know do you? Puts everything into perspective.

Anonymous said...

I know exactly what you mean! I am new to your blog, but I already felt the connection of a milsister as my husband is gearing up for deployment very soon. I needed this today of all days, because we just came from a Town Hall meeting with the Lt. Col., and his leaving was just feeling overwhelming.

Thanks for putting it in perspective.