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Being a military spouse is a walk in the park… And by park, I mean Jurassic Park.
Some days I feel like I can conquer the world while other moments it’s a complete miracle that my kids are still alive and I remembered to put on pants.
We’ve all heard the saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I’d like to consider myself tough, but where the heck am I supposed to “go” on tough days when my service member is already gone to work/TDY/deployment?!
Each year, millions of people will train for and run a marathon. Many of these runners have trained for years, hoping to compete in prestigious races. They’ve dreamed of what it would be like to be the first to cross the finish line as victory cheers ring out around them.
When the first three runners cross the finish line, the race is far from over. There are many runners who are still running their own race, striving to do their best even though they know they won’t be coming in first.
Rolling waves glisten and sparkle under the effervescent rays of morning sunshine. A soothing breeze off the water sweeps the hair from your eyes as you gaze across the sand and surf. There’s no stress here!
It’s the perfect setting for the getaway trip you’ve been longing for. Suddenly, a car door opens. You realize you’ve been daydreaming again while waiting in the pick-up line outside of your child’s school!
But what if you could actually escape to beachy bliss?
Since about 2009, I’ve had problems with my gallbladder. It would ache occasionally and I knew I had gallstones. However, like many people, it didn’t bother me very often and I carried on with life.
I knew it would eventually need to be removed, but I also knew that some people had negative side effects afterwards and it swayed me enough to put it off.
Fast forward to about one month after I had my son last year.
ife is all about the seasons, and some seasons, like winter, seem to last forever.
Sorry if that sounded kind of corny or slightly cliche, but from where I’m sitting, it’s true—especially for military spouses.
We have seasons of joy. We have seasons of pain. We have seasons of hopeful anticipation. Of disappointment. Of frustration. Encouragement. Waiting. Challenge. Victory.
Yes, it’s all about the seasons.
Sometimes we have a season of “winter” that seems to last forever.
I went to a wedding celebration for friends of mine over the weekend. It’s exciting to see “new” love, even though both of these friends are in their 40’s.
The guests played a game where each took a wooden log from a Jenga® game and wrote a piece of marriage advice on it. The pieces were then tossed into a bowl and during the evening Tim or Sofia would draw out a piece and read it. Lots of wonderful advice: don’t go to bed angry…have lots of sex…and remember that she’s always right! You know, the usual.
I had different advice for them based on an activity I do with couples returning from deployment in my communications workshop for the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program.
Here it is: Always remember to say “I Love You” with no words at all.
What does that mean? Look for the little things you do for each other that “say” how special you think they are. Usually those things involve no words, and are from the heart.
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