A couple of months ago, when we thought that we were going to receive exciting news about a new adventure (we were up for a move)...we received news which were less than desirable. Thee Chaplain (my dear husband) was going to be moved to another unit here on Fort Hood, and for the first nine months of the eighteen month assignment, he would be deployed to Korea. (Not everyone has the wonderful privilege to be moved there as a family. It was not an option.) If you know me, I like moving, and seeing new places, and house hunting, and everything that goes along with that. So I was a little disappointed, but the staying here wasn't so bad. This is a nice area, and I love my house and my friends here. The kids are stabilized, as well.
But the thought of a nine month separation, after a deployment last year, and the thought of being a single mom of teenagers for that long devastated me. I know I am supposed to take it all in stride and accept whatever the Army gives us, but to be totally honest, initially I was not happy. This how I felt..... I will call myself Silly Girl here.
A few years ago, in the height of the war, soldiers were deployed every other year. But this is not then, and I am new to this life, I have not fully recovered from the last deployment. And I was not even the one who went to war, so I know that I shouldn't be the one to complain. But, I know, sometimes it really is just as difficult, or more so, for the family at home. The soldier has their mission to focus on, and they are busy flying around Afghanistan, seeking glory and honor, putting their life at risk for God and Country. But those at home deal with kids who miss their dad or mom, they worry about the safety of their soldier, and of course everything goes wrong on the home front. Last time, we had the Deadly Hailstorm of 2014, the second shooting on Ford Hood, and many other smaller catastrophes which you can read about in my older posts. And long separations are not easy for any relationship, even for those people who have all the answers(please note irony in that statement) and help others with their marriages.
The purpose of this post is not to complain, although it may sound like I am whining. I know I have not dealt with half of what most of the military families have dealt with. Right now I have friends, whose spouses are deployed all over the world, some of them for a full year.
I know that the kids and I will be fine, and it will be a chance for our characters to grow. Everyone knows that it is difficulty that make us stronger.
However, it IS nice to have a partner around the house to help you in times of trouble. For example, one day, I was minding my own business, cooking something, like usual, and there was this huge, monstrous, poisonous SCORPION that decided to attack me. (Only in Texas....) I didn't see it, because I was concentrating on making perfect eggs, or something of the sort, but he did. He saw it chasing me. I mean, this thing wanted to poison me to death.
Now, I would like to say that my dear husband did not hesitate at all to kill the beast about to harm me. But we have been married for a while now, and for a very, very brief moment, he paused and thought about his options.
But, he did the truly courageous thing and grabbed the vacuum cleaner to kill the beast. I drew him with a sword below, instead of a vacuum cleaner, because swords are cool. And, if he had a sword, he would have used it in this situation.
My life right now is not about scorpions, its about teenagers. Scorpions have nothing over the deadly venom of teenagers. And I have very nice teenagers. They are usually kind to each other, and they are capable of having amazing deep conversations. But, they ARE still teenagers. In addition, other difficulties have surfaced recently in our lives, which I don't have time to talk about here. Thee Chaplain is gifted with dealing with both the kids and situations, especially when my emotions get the better of me, he helps me put things in perspective.
Now, I know it doesn't help anyone to be defeated before the battle. So, instead of sulking and being scared of the long nine months ahead of us, I decided that Lonely Girl will be have to make a comeback. During the last deployment, I wrote some blogposts concerning the adventures of Lonely Girl (who is really me, in case you didn't guess). Lonely Girl is a superhero of sorts. She can tackle anything that comes along, and she is brave and strong. Don't we all need an alter-ego at times to help us believe we can do difficult things? So, here she is, LONELY GIRL... I think I have this under control, despite the misadventures and hurdles which may come this way.
