Question and Answer Time

Today the kids and I spent the afternoon at our beach.

This summer home that we are extremely lucky to have sits on a hill along a gravel side road. The road ends at a small, private beach belonging to an association comprised of the families who own the eleven homes along the gravel road.

My husband grew up with these families.

To be honest, I have a hard time keeping the members of these families straight. But they all know my husband and they all love him.

Whenever I go down to the beach I know it will be question and answer time. They all want to know where he is. They all want to know what he is doing.

I appreciate that they care for him, but I must admit that it's getting old.

I'm tired of explaining to people that my husband is deployed. I'm weary of answering all of the questions that follow. I do answer every one, with a smile on my face. I feel like they are all fascinated by me and our situation.

But I'm not the first wife who has slogged along at home while her husband was at war!

I know it is petulant and immature to feel this way, but I can't help it.

The kids are starting to feel their dad's absence. All this talk about it isn't helping them. At the oddest moments they'll suddenly say how much they miss him and start to get teary-eyed. It's heartbreaking.

Today we were sitting in a restaurant waiting for our food to arrive when out of the blue my daughter said, "I'm sorry, Mommy."

"For what?" I asked her.

"I'm sorry that Daddy had to go away. I know how much you must miss him."

Talk about broken hearts! Sometimes I feel like we all feel too much.