Home for Christmas
A dear friend of mine got a wonderful early Christmas gift this year. Her Army husband came home from Iraq a bit earlier than expected. They were supposed to return on December 30th but were able to make the trip home sooner.
He has been gone for fifteen months. I am so very happy for them.
She wrote me an e-mail today. She said now that she's past the finish line and hooked up to her oxygen tank and an IV, she's pulling out her pom poms for me.
She is no stranger to the life of a waiting wife. Her husband has deployed for more than a year twice before. But this was an exceptionally difficult deployment.
She was diagnosed with a severe medical problem. They have been trying to become parents for years and those plans were...well...they still have some hope. They would be wonderful parents.
He lost ten troops in his unit during this deployment. My friend sat with the widows, helped guide them through arrangements, and attended the funerals. She volunteers to do that job. She quit her paying job to be able to do it. And she tells me that it was a blessing to be able to attend those funerals.
As if that weren't enough for them to deal with, he temporarily lost his sight. He spent a short time in Germany to recover yet yearned to return to his unit the entire time because they needed him.
Their strength awes me. It humbles me.
And it makes my jealousy at his return feel doubly horrid. I'm so happy for her but I'm so sad for myself. It makes me hate myself.
It makes me hate myself more than I already do.
He has been gone for fifteen months. I am so very happy for them.
She wrote me an e-mail today. She said now that she's past the finish line and hooked up to her oxygen tank and an IV, she's pulling out her pom poms for me.
She is no stranger to the life of a waiting wife. Her husband has deployed for more than a year twice before. But this was an exceptionally difficult deployment.
She was diagnosed with a severe medical problem. They have been trying to become parents for years and those plans were...well...they still have some hope. They would be wonderful parents.
He lost ten troops in his unit during this deployment. My friend sat with the widows, helped guide them through arrangements, and attended the funerals. She volunteers to do that job. She quit her paying job to be able to do it. And she tells me that it was a blessing to be able to attend those funerals.
As if that weren't enough for them to deal with, he temporarily lost his sight. He spent a short time in Germany to recover yet yearned to return to his unit the entire time because they needed him.
Their strength awes me. It humbles me.
And it makes my jealousy at his return feel doubly horrid. I'm so happy for her but I'm so sad for myself. It makes me hate myself.
It makes me hate myself more than I already do.
Labels: challenges, deployment, friends, holidays, husband, military, waiting, wife
posted by Major Mom at 10:49 PM
Karen is a military wife and stay-at-home mother to a seven-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. A Boston native who’s lived in the Shreveport-Bossier area for eight years, she spends most of her time volunteering at her kids’ school, supporting her husband, playing with her friends and watching her hair turn gray. In between, she writes about her life here on her blog.
2 Comments:
It doesn't make you "horrid" it makes you "human". I have felt the pangs of jealousy you are talking about when I stood in your shoes a number of months back. It tells me you love your family...and want everyone back together. FYI.... the admiration, respect, and awe that you feel when you see your friend.....others see that when they look at you. Hang on...the last few weeks are the hardest.
Don't beat yourself up about this Karen. These are all normal feelings. I too have been through this, as you know. It's hard. I was always happy when someone's husband came home, but I would get jealous.
It's normal and you should express your feelings. Don't try to hold them in.
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