Before Joe's deployment, a separation was just a separation. 30 days in the field. 3 months in Fort Leonard Wood. Hell, the 6 months we were apart after we got married and Joe had to go back to Germany. Just time apart. It sucked, but it was easy.
And now, after a year long deployment, time apart isn't easy. At least not for me. Joe has to go to ALC in Fort Leonard Wood for two months. Watching him pack brings back horrible memories. Saying good bye brought me right back to March 2010.
I'm giving myself good pep talks - 60 days is NOTHING! Really, after 365, it's a walk in the park. And here I am feeling so bad for myself when some of you are in the deployment for the long haul. I was always one of those people that would roll my eyes at the wife that couldn't be apart from her husband for 2 weeks. How could they be so dependent on one another? How could you not sleep when he's gone? At least this has hit me now, and not during the deployment.
The deployment definitely shown us just how much we need each other though. I'm going to take this as a good thing and run with it. Maybe it's not such a bad thing I love my husband so much I want to be around him all the time, right?
But for now, I'm going to dig out my "living alone" perk list and eat spaghetti every night and not have to watch Swamp People marathons.
And for those of you reading this who are rolling your eyes at me, wishing your husbands could be only 850 miles away with a cell phone, I truly to apologize. My heart goes out to you. It's not easy. What we do isn't normal. I hope your husbands come home soon, safe.
2 comments:
His ALC is 60days! That stinks! My husband did his ALC piggybacked on his deployment... so we did the 14 months of deployment home for a few days then ALC in Northern California. I totally get it... I get mad at myself for agreeing to this extended time apart.
Keep your chin up!
It's normal, we have done multiple 12-15 month deployments and anytime he leaves I feel like a big baby because I miss him. He's leaving for 14 days and I already miss him. I believe that the long separations make us appreciate time together more and therefore when they leave for any amount of time we feel the void...24 hours or 24 months, time away sucks.
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