If you’ve been around the military for even a short amount of time, you’ve probably at least heard a mention of “Murphy’s Law,” the theory that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
It actually has a pretty science-y history with some philosophy and math thrown in. But you don’t need to know all of that.
All you need to know is that once your service member leaves, I can almost guarantee you will get to know Murphy.
In this military life, separation in the military is almost guaranteed. Between TDY, training, time in the field, deployments—the list goes on and on—our service members often have to take time away from their spouses and families. Often, we focus on that separation; some of us dwell on it, some of us try to ignore it, but it can still get at us despite our best efforts.
When our service member leaves, we’re faced with two choices: allow our emotions to take over, or try to look at the bright side. It never gets easier to have our loved ones gone, but we can try to see the good in it.
Recently, we were waiting for details on whether Phil’s unit would be activated or not to help with hurricane relief. Oh, the unknown! Oh, the hurry up and wait! I’m fine once he’s on the road but the in-between is hard for me.
We’ve all heard that quote, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Several years ago, this quote ticked me off. Mainly because I wanted my dearest, darling, most-handsomest-stud-of-a-new-husband around all the time. I didn’t want to spend my time missing him, regardless of what I could gain from that.
I was extremely lucky for the past six months because the Army pretty much gave me uninterrupted time with my service member. With the exception of two small, week-long TDYs, we’ve been inseparable. It’s actually the most time we’ve ever spent together, and it has been awesome.
Well, it has been a month. A month of sleeping on my own, a month of taking care of the house and family on my own, a month since my service member left for a year-long hardship tour to Korea. I know many spouses have gone on this same journey, and I have wonderful friends who have given me great details of what to expect from a hardship tour.
Mission: Milspouse is a
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EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
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