Rookie Army National Guard Wife

As his leave draws to a close I have faced all the answers I have gotten during this time. I was able to say things that I never thought I would say out loud and I have cried tears that I though were long dried up.

I have decided to conclude my time spent here with you. You have listened to all my crying and whining and bitching and I appreciate whole heartedly your comments and encouragement. I realized though that what was happening in my life wasn't because of the army or this deployment, perhaps all that just made me face what I had run from for so long but I honestly believe that it mocks those of you who do face deployments and separations and wait at home praying and hoping that all will be well again soon. You all deserve the time to blog and feel that support from a great group of milspouses waiting in the wings to encourage you on.

As for me, the next step isn't an easy one and I'm not sure what path will be trod, but I hold all of you in my heart and my thoughts and pray for the safe return of your hubbies and a life full of promise and love.

Ok...panicking now.....have I changed enough....40 lbs still isn't enough.....will the clothes look alright....will he even notice.......what's it gonna be like the first time I see him again.....will it be akward to kiss again.....will I feel safe like I used to when he holds me.....has too much happened to be able to be open again......can I hold it together while he is here.....how will I say goodbye .....again.

Two weeks......two weeks until he leaves there and a few days after that until we are standing face to face again. I'm proud to say, I've learned my limits. I know when a conversation is heading in a direction that will push me back into the "dark side" and I excuse myself politely. He is none the wiser and we don't have an argument. I'm more sensitive to things with him than I was - just scaired of new paint chipping and revealing all the damage still underneath. I mean really what can truly be done right now. He is trying and I've found some affection for him still bubbling beneath the surface, but it's still so laden with fear and hurt that I can't make heads or tails of it all.

When he comes home it won't be the time to discuss any of it. He thinks we'll be ok and maybe we will be, but for right now I'll settle being able to hang out with my best friend again. Through this whole thing, I knew that I didn't want him out of my life completely, I really just wanted to stop hurting. Everyone keeps telling me that once we're together again it will be just like it used to be. I don't think it will be because now I carry so much baggage and who knows what he has experienced since he's been there. I don't need things to be the same, I just need us to work for tomorrow together. That's all. Just together.

So, 2 weeks. Try as I might not to look forward to it (in case something changes) the days are marked off on my calendar. I still have outfits picked out ready to go. I still will go buy something pretty to wear. Gosh, sometimes, I'm such a girl.

In a few weeks he'll be home on R & R. I'm really nervous. Our phone conversations have been a tad on the boring side. I think neither one of us really know what to say. He has been very loving in his emails and phone calls and I'm sorry to report that I'm having a hard time feeling safe enough to return it. I respond but it feels so empty to me. I do still love him and I miss my friend terribly, but I'm afraid that if I allow to start feeling close to him again it just will end up hurting over and over. We'll be going away for a few days just the two of us. I just hope everything goes well....I really do.

Ok, so how could this possible get worse? Today, after just days ago discussing whether we are going to stay together and him assuring me that he will never give up on us and being with me is what he truly wants, he calls today to tell me that he was thinking about staying for an extra four months. I really thought I heard him wrong. But I didn't. I guess, we aren't that important after all.

In the beginning of this deployment I was certain nothing could shake us and we would be as strong as ever when he returned. Actually what it did was expose the weak spots of our marriage and put constant pressure on them until they have grown and overtaken what was good.

We are at an impass right now. I honestly don't know what's going to happen at this point. He will be coming home on leave soon and I guess we'll find out where we stand then. Then when he's home for good we'll know if we are going to get counseling and work through it or we're going to agree to be apart.

Before anything, he was my friend. That is what is holding this together for me right now. I don't want it to end badly because I enjoy his friendship and I don't want us to be bitter with each other.

If ever, this is the time when I wish I had a crystal ball so I can see into the future and find out what's going to happen. This deployment would have been much easier to handle if we weren't having marital problems. Where did we go wrong?

That's a tough one to answer. One that I have waited and put a lot of thought into.

I have started my own internet business that has been my light. It's giving me the ability to dream again and believe that maybe someday, it will all come true. I'm starting back to school for online courses on the 2nd of September. I'm making more of an effort to be a better mom to the kids and I'm really taking a look at the things that truly matter the most in life.

But in the areas where this blog counts, I'm not ok. In those areas I'm so lost that I truly want to block them all out and pretend that none of them exist. This war robbed me of my dreams for a family again. It robbed me of a man that I thought would be my best friend forever. It robbed me of the ability to trust again...an effort that I had to consciously make after 10 years of not trusting anyone. My pleas fall on deaf ears. Crying evokes anger and anything other than superficial conversations are too much of a bother.

What this war gave me was my anger back. It gave me the absolute need to reach for something bigger than myself. It gave me the independence that I had given up when I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Somehow, I don't think the scales are balancing though.

WHAT?! I replied in an unedited response. He caught me so off guard that I had no time to fake my reply like I usually can for some odd idea he comes up with. He said he wants to have a baby when he gets home...........mouths dropping open and the clear sound of thuds can be heard throughout the room. This was not part of the plan. This was discussed far in advance of us getting married. This after I've been working my butt off to lose weight. Down 32 lbs and in the gym 3 times a day and he wants to come home and make me fat again??????

Sigh, and the emmy goes to........ME!!!! I actually recovered quite quickly and said that I would be open to discuss it when he comes home and we'll decide from there whether we can or want to do that. I'll pause now for your applause and amazement. I am hoping it's just a legacy thing that comes up when someone faces mortality. Don't get me wrong, I know he would be an amazing father and I don't want to take that right away from him, but I already have screwed up 2 kids and I don't really want to mess up another one!

Then he comes out with one of the most amazing things I have ever heard him say and honestly the first time I have had a glimpse into his heart since he's been gone and I felt guilty. Guilty because I'm selfish, guilty because I just feel so empty inside that I'm honestly scaired of him coming home on leave because I'm afraid he's gonna think I hate him because I'm so used to being in off mode. Guilty because I'm still angry about how our relationship has been during this deployment.

Every conversation brings something new to ponder.....but nothing this heavy so far.

I have had a difficult time posting lately....I guess I got sick of hearing myself rant....which I think was at least healthier because it was getting out. But here it goes......

There have been a lot of changes in the past couple months. My health, I'm down 31 lbs so far my blood pressure is amazingly good and I feel great. I just joined a gym and people actually accused me of drinking today because I was so giddy when I got done. I just loved it...I can feel it in my body and it feels awesome!

I have started my own business and I'm loving it. I am loving putting effort into something for me and my family and just for us. I am determined to be free in the next few years and not have to be bound by the shackles of my desk any longer! Hey, send me an email if you might be interested in a shot with this....it is legit, trust me!

I am busier than ever and will be going back to school online for some more degrees. I just don't stop anymore. But here's the thing. As much as they are positive outlets and I'm enjoying them, I know I am just using them to run from the changes that are happening inside me. Changes I can't and won't admit to anyone. I did try, I really did.

Why? Two more families changed forever. Another phone call with the news no one wants to hear. It doesn't matter if I know them personally or not, it's still a loss that I feel deep within myself. Thankful that it isn't my family and yet guilty that I would think that. I've heard that that kind of thing is normal, but it still doesn't make me feel like a great human being.

My dad said that he was wondering how much longer it would be before I finally accepted this reality. He said he knew I wasn't allowing myself to feel anything about this year and he's said he's almost glad that I am finally not hiding. But I'm not. It's easier to pretend all this isn't real and it doesn't affect you. It's easier to not worry. It's easier to find something stupid to be angry about because then you aren't feeling the fear and loneliness. I liked my oblivion.

Months have gone by and I have been handling this deployment in my own messed up way. I know I should have talked to someone awhile ago, but for me, it was almost a form of defeat if I couldn't do this on my own.

Today, the wall that I had built up around me crashed. First thing this morning I received a phone call that 3 men in my husband's unit were killed by an IED yesterday. She actually said the words "your husband was not one of them." It hit me hard. I guess I had been able to make this whole thing seem like he was still just in the states training. That he wasn't half a world away and in danger. Not my husband....he was still the same old guy that found a little pleasure in driving me nuts and he was ok.

Everything that I had stuffed so far inside me came rushing out. But I was at work and couldn't really have the cry or screaming fit that I wanted to. I still want to scream at the top of my lungs and find a way to make this make sense. But I can't, and I don't know if I ever will because deep down I know it will never make sense.

To those families who have lost their loved one, I will hit my knees tonight and pray for peace and comfort for all of you. I know I couldn't truly know how your hearts are breaking today but my thoughts are with you.

Please, God, no more....

Will I ever feel normal again?
What does normal even feel like?
How will I be able to keep saying goodbye without it destroying myself?
Why do people tell the Hubs that they will look in on me and make sure everything is ok when they never had any intention of doing so?
Why does Hubs not get that I really can't do this anymore?
Will he understand one day that I really just needed some assurance that he loved me and that I just don't work for him?
Will we hate each other before anything ever truly gets understood?
How did I get so good at pretending that everything is ok?
Do I even know what reality is anymore?
Will I have a chance of allowing myself to trust again?
Where does the pain and anger go when inside you just want it all to end?
Why did he volunteer to do this?
Will I ever not feel so alone again?

Today marks one year since hubs and I were married. Everything about today so far mimics what the day was like last year as well. Everything except for obvious missing elements, like him, being happy, and looking forward to tomorrow.

I know what's been bugging me so much lately. All day at work I take care of 10 different people and whatever they need. Drop this to do that. Can you do this now? I need......blah blah blah. Then I go home and I take care of 2 little people that need me to do stuff for them. Then I have a husband who needs stuff so I have to be on top of what I need to send him and his stuff back home and taking care of his business affairs. Then there's my parents who have expectations for me that I try to fulfill (although I don't think I will ever be able to). At the end of every day, I feel so drained and worn down that there is nothing left inside me except frustration and anger.

I am an invisible entity to those around me. My sole purpose in this life is what they need from me and heaven help me if I don't perform. Well guess what? I'm tired....no, I'm sick and tired. Would a thank you kill them? Would a small gesture of hey I appreciate you be too much for them to muster up? I don't want to be invisible anymore. I want someone to notice and to care not because I'm upset, but because they honestly can look into my eyes and know I need it. I would love a letter right now filled with anything remotely sounding like he cared. Even a sentence or two. Anything, because I'm starving for some sort of affection right now and to know that I matter to someone.

My anniversary is almost here. Last year at this time I was a completely different person. I was excited and nervous and stressed, but all that would soon calm as soon as the last dance took place and we were off to begin our lives together with each other. Almost a year has passed and I'm not really sure where we are. Is this normal? I have no idea. I don't even really know how I'm feeling about all this anymore. I guess the day to day and sometimes hour by hour emotional rollercoaster has finally taken it's toll and now I can't feel anything. I'm really scared that by the time he comes home we will have grown so far apart that we won't be able to find each other again. I don't even know how he is feeling about anything regarding us and it's impossible to start a conversation about it only to read the words my time is up I gotta go and then there is no resolution. I feel like I'm such a bad person and especially a horrible wife. I'm doing all the duties of an army wife, but I'm feeling nothing inside. Doesn't that mean that I'm cold and really screwed up?! My instincts tell me it is messed up, but I don't have even one clue on how to make it better.

So with all that going on inside me, I obsess about my diet now. Exercising especially. Down 19 lbs and only 1 more to go to reach my goal for the month and then it's on to my next goal. I need to feel success about something and I need to get myself in control in any situation. I'm just so tired of all the confusion around me that this is safe because it is totally reliant on me and my efforts. I hope everything will be ok again someday.

May I first say that while most of the time my blog is full of "woe is me's", I have to add more positive notes because I am feeling pretty darn good lately. On the hubs front, we are trying to work our stuff out.....ok I'm trying to find a way to deal and he happily has no idea...that of course will be a continuing saga I'm sure.

But on a lighter note....I'm lighter!!! Down 16lbs so far and my goal is 4 more by the end of the month. I set little goals along the way for numbers that mean something to me. But really I have gained a lot too! I have gained a sense of me. I feel healthier and more lively. I'm more aware of moving my body more and being more active. I look at food as a source of fuel for me to feel better instead of a drug that I use to cover what hurts. I can be at parties and say no and really be ok with it. I am in control of me for the first time in such a long time and I can't tell you how amazing it is.

Someone at work today told me hubs won't even recognize me when he gets home. I told him if he needed pics of me I would keep sending old ones so he wouldn't even know what I looked like so when I pick him up at the airport it will be a surprise. I can't wait....well I can cause I'm not there yet. I even have two pairs of pants that I can slip off without unbuttoning them....that's so cool!!!

So next goal is on board....I'll check back with ya on that one.

Tonight I graduated with my BBA. Hubs watched my kids for the first time by himself the night I started the program two years ago. I always expected to see him in the audience during the ceremony and being there to hug me when I got done and tell me how proud he is of me. But tonight, no hubs, just a room full of people that somehow made me feel so alone inside.

I guess that means that despite what we are going through during this deployment, that I love him with my whole heart. I just want it to be us again.

So here's to hubs, I missed you tonight and I love you.

Today's the day I have reached my limitations on how much I can take. Believe me when I say it's ugly.

During a chat today with hubs he told me that he wants to change units when he gets home to go to a unit his friend just joined this past winter. A unit who happens to be in the process of training for their deployment sometime within the next year or two. So I say, but won't you have to deploy if they do, he says he'll have to deploy at least once more before his contract is done but he might be able to get out of it if they go.

My desired reaction: stop typing, close the chat, turn off the computer, get in my car and keep driving until I can get far enough away for it to not hurt anymore.

My response: my heart is broken.

The right thing to say..probably not, but come on. We're not even halfway done with this deployment and now you bring up that when you get home after a year being gone that you might be deployed right away again and I'm supposed to smile and say "good for you honey!"?!?!?!

Well I can't. May 25th marks our 1 year anniversary and so far I still don't feel like I'm even married. I feel like I found another boss to work for while I'm not at work. I honestly could not take a deployment right after he gets home. I'm being totally honest and sincere when I say that it will destroy us because it will destroy me. This has already taken what life I had in me completely out. My friends all laugh and enjoy that I get overly funny when I'm stressed out because I need someone to laugh around me because I feel so empty inside. He volunteered to go on this deployment because his "boys" were going and they have to stick together and now all he wants is out. And now because his friend will be deploying he should be with him. Well, when is it going to be my turn? I just want to feel normal again. I would love not to feel so angry all the time and most of all I would love to not have to live this double life of pretending to everyone else that everything is ok. It's not. I'm not. I just don't know what to do anymore.

So far it has been 2 weeks and I am down 14 lbs. I am exercising and eating very healthy. I have been able to say no to the "just a little won't hurt" situations and have felt stronger in myself than I have for a long time.

Hubs seems to be concerned now that I am doing this so I can find a new man. Why do they do that? He doesn't seem to be honestly upset about it but he wouldn't have said it if he wasn't at least thinking about it. I told him that I just want to make sure I'm the first pick for the trophy wife phase that my son seems to think should be coming any day now since he is already in his muscle car phase. Lots of pressure for this old broad!

In all reality though, I don't think I would be able to do this if he was here. Not that he isn't supportive because he is even to the point of doing my diets with me and for him that wouldn't be good, he's already thin. Just because I needed this deployment to push me out of my self loathing nest and really decide to make a change. I guess the deployment gave me enough anger and frustration that it had to come out somewhere and it wasn't going to be him, so here I am. I am happier and stronger and hopeful for the first time in a VERY long time. I go to bed every night and picture what I want to look like when he comes home and what kind of outfit I'm going to wear. It keeps me motivated and I get to play dress up without all the costume changes!

Anyway, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Hug your babies close and for all the moms whose babies are serving our country, I hope you get the hug that you need from them really soon.

May 9th is Military Spouse Day
Posted: 08 May 2008 07:50 AM CDT
The following text is from a proclamation by the President. The video before President Bush’s Proclamation is one produced by the Army for the Army families. Break out the tissues, you will probably need them.
Military spouses embody the courage, nobility of duty, and love of country that inspire every American. On Military Spouse Day, we pay tribute to the husbands and wives who support their spouses in America’s Armed Forces during times of war and peace.
The legacy of military spouses began when colonial Americans were fighting for independence. Martha Washington boosted the morale of her husband’s troops by visiting battlefields and tending to the wounded. Since then, members of our Armed Forces have served our Nation accompanied by the steadfast love and support of their spouses and families.
While our men and women in uniform are protecting our country’s founding ideals of liberty, democracy, and justice, their spouses live with uncommon challenges, endure sleepless nights, and spend long periods raising children alone. Many military spouses are also committed volunteers, serving other military families and local communities. Our Nation benefits from the sacrifices of our military families, and we are inspired by their courage, strength, and leadership.
On Military Spouse Day and throughout the year, we honor the commitment spouses have made to freedom’s cause. To learn about ways to support our troops and their spouses and families, I encourage all Americans to visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 9, 2008, as Military Spouse Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities and by expressing their gratitude to the husbands and wives of those serving in the United States Armed Forces.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
GEORGE W. BUSH

It's funny how there's an invisible switch inside of you that can suddenly change your feelings and outlook in a matter of moments. I was at such a low point with this deployment that I wasn't sure I would ever find my way out, let alone how our relationship would survive. The problem was that he didn't even know how I was feeling. He really had no idea that I was in such a hole emotionally when it came to us. I suppose someday, when we are on the other side of this I will tell him where to find my blog, but for now, I don't want him to know.

I think the hardest part has been feeling so alone and yet not knowing how to ask for help or to communicate that and then getting angry because people didn't instinctively know that I felt like I was dead inside, especially him. I felt like my role was only to do and to put all that I had into a relationship that I felt nothing out of anymore. What ended up happening was that I was empty and had nothing more to give.

Fortunately, things are better. One email with a couple lines from him and I felt like it was all going to be ok again. We still have a long time to go and I'm truly hoping it will be, but I have to say that I love him, but I am hating this part of my life. I've been so involved with everyone else and what they need from me that my graduation is less than 2 weeks away and I realized I haven't ordered my cap and gown or gotten the invitations. Everyone else has what they need though.

But I have begun a journey just for me and I'm not going to fail myself anymore. I have struggled with my weight for most of my life. I was actually thin for a few years after high school but then I got pregnant and that was the end of that and I have dieted and taken pills and bought exercise equipment in such quantities that I probably could open my own gym. Even in the 3 years we've been together he has stood by me during my new latest and greatest and always told me it doesn't matter to him he will always love me no matter what. The sad truth is that I have never fully believed him. Because I think that I don't love me this way. He's only known me this way and I want to surprise him when he gets home. But really, I'm just sick of giving all of myself to everyone else and yet letting myself fail me each time.

So, week 1 on this diet with healthy food I would have never tried before and a great walking partner I am down 10lbs!!! I will never conquer anything if I can't even conquer myself and today is the day.

Today was a horrible day. I had to have a conversation with my husband that I was trying at all costs to avoid, but it couldn't be anymore. It left me feeling dead inside like I do now. But then I came home and a story was on the news about Johnathan Cote, the contractor that was kidnapped in Iraq a year ago. Read his story here.

I sobbed so hard I had to leave the room so the kids didn't think something was wrong with me. I didn't know him or his family and yet if I was young enough to join the military, I think this would have been the incentive to do it. WTF????? They kidnapped him a year ago. His family has had to live with the unknown and the horrible unknown at that for a year! I've been going on and on about how I'm going to get through this year and all this time this family has waited for some word of their son/brother/etc. and not knowing anything. I can't imagine the hell that must have been for them and I just am so angry that these monsters put them all through that. I'm so pissed right now!!! I'm crying again just writing about it because it frustrates me that this is still happening when we've been there for 5 friggin years!!!! And every time you turn around you hear stories about how they have to get clearance from everyone and Moses just to be able to protect themselves in a warzone....it blows my mind. A few weeks ago the family received word that one of his fingers was positively identified as one of the 5 they received. Just weeks ago. They kept him alive for a year. They kept the family's hope alive for a year. They kept his hope alive for a year that he would be rescued and that those men would come to justice. And then they destroyed the lives of so many by taking the life of one and I want them to be punished for it. God help me, I just want to see some kind of justice in this life. For the families and little kids who won't ever see their dads or moms again because they went to fight the bad guys. The bad guys can't win anymore...they just can't. The one left at home need justice.

Who am I to decide what is justice. I don't know. I don't know what I want that will make me feel like everything is ok again. I don't think it's out there. I truly wish it was. His family has operated with grace and peacefullness through this whole ordeal and I wish I could too, but I've had enough. I've just had enough of the hell that has been residing on earth. I just want it to stop.

Tomorrow I would like to wake up and everything will be normal. Things will be ok again and there won't be anything else to worry about or think about. What I wouldn't give right now for the chance to be a kid again.

Just waiting....wondering.....hoping to wake up and realize all of it is just a dream.

It's not.....he's gone. I'm here. So much is happening right now that I want to talk to him about but I can't. How is it possible that this will get better?!!

Today, I am having a difficult time pretending I want to listen to people complain about things that I perceive as being stupid. I know, to them it isn't, but I just can't help it, I'm crabby. I couldn't sleep last night. I tossed and turned and felt more anxious as the minutes ticked by. Partly because I have a new opportunity that is a bit of risk, but I think I'm going for it, so I'm nervous about that. The other part is that I feel so conflicted all the time about my relationship. I love him, but I'm sick of feeling like I'm around so I can take care of things. He still doesn't know when my birthday is. Yes, it's trivial, but I know everything about him and I just feel like he can't even be bothered to remember a day that is the only thing I have that is just about me. I couldn't feel any less special. So, that started my mind on a journey into "things he's done to piss me off" land. Then I couldn't stop thinking because I felt guilty then that I'm being so selfish while he's getting shot at. But is it wrong to want to know you are the most valued thing to someone when you go out of your way to make them feel that way?

Being a relatively strong individual who really isn't afraid of being alone, I never expected to be feeling the way that I do. I'm almost in a panic that I can't call him or text him or even email with the expectation he will be able to read it. It's like we have been blocked off from each other completely and I feel it in my stomach all the time.

I check the time there all day long, trying to imagine "what is he doing"...."is he sleeping now?"...."when will I hear his voice again?".

He officially landed a couple days ago and it is really happening now. No more wondering or waiting....it's here. From the ladies who have responded to my blog in the past, I guess this will get better. There will come a day again, when I will feel ok, but right now, it's just hard.

My temper is amazingly short too. I don't want to let anyone in right now. Some friends think since he's gone now we should be able to go and do whatever all the time. I don't feel like it right now and I'm pissed that they think this is some kind of vacation for me or something. I'm pissed when people complain about stupid things. I'm pissed when someone asks about him that I know really doesn't care about the answer but I'm thier token "support the soldier" gesture.

I'm just pissed......this life isn't fair, it isn't right. Because stupid people out there decided we weren't fit to live because we don't agree with their beliefs we have to send people that we love and cherish into their hands so they can try to kill them! WTF!!!!!!! What made them think they have the right to decided who should live or die? How do they wake up every morning and spend their day planning the deaths of whoever they can take because they think it's what their god commands of them. I don't remember anyone asking me if it was ok to take my husband for year away from his family, away from me so he can trek around dodging bullets because they don't think he should be alive. I know what my answer would have been......and I'm certain it would be the same for all the wives and children and families who spend their days and nights alone wondering if everything really will be ok like their soldier told them before he/she left.

You know what, it's not ok. It won't be ok until we all can hold our soldier close again and smell them and hear thier heart beating while we lay our heads on thier chest. That's when it will be ok again, and I'm so sick and tired of people telling me that this year will go by fast. Really....well are you going to curl up with me during the nights when my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my chest and I can't quiet the voices in my head. Are you going to play with my kids and do fun things with them while I go have a good cry so I don't have to wait until they are asleep? Are you going to fly over there and see how fast the year goes by in a warzone? No....probably not, so stop expecting me to be flitting around like I'm some sort of fairy from happy land. Stop condemning me when I feel sad or when I'm worried or lonely. Stop trying to give me the snippets of advise that have nothing to do with my life, but help you get through your 1/2 hour of separation when you go shopping and hubs is at home.....awwww poor girl.

Well, time to slap on the happy, brave "I'm ok" face and get back to my life. Crap.

• Feedback on the phone when you are trying to have a conversation about nothing.
• The conversation is about nothing because you can't think of anything that seems even remotely important when hubs is in a warzone.
• Having to explain where he is or when you last talked to him a thousand times to different people all day long when all you really want to do is not think about it for a few minutes.
• Becoming an expert in the communications industry for international calling.
• People think you're joking when you tell them you've had enough.
• Picking up the phone to text or call when something cool happens only to realize, they won't get it.
• Balancing the checkbook only to check later and realize they took out more.
• Trying to find the perfect thing to send him, find it, send it, only to have him ask for something literally right after the package is mailed.
• Doing laundry and finding some of his clothes he wore while he was home and smelling them in hopes to get the last whiff of him before you wash it away.
• Realizing that you are every bit a girl even when you try to be so darn tough.
• Constantly doing the math in your head every time you look at your clock to figure out what time it is over there.

They keep postponing the departure date. Not that I mind the fact that it will be less time in country, but I know it is wearing on everyone. Our conversations are strained to say the least. There really isn't anything new to talk about, but yet we still want to talk because soon we won't be able to as much. I find myself talking about the dumbest stuff, just to hold a conversation because I can't stand the silence either.

When I look back on the last year, I realize that I still don't know what being married is like. I was married 10 years ago and that definitely was a mistake and jaded my view of marriage, so when we got married this past May I was excited to have my feelings about it change. But the situation has been such that I still don't know what it really feels like.

I still have people complain to me that they don't get to see their husbands as much as they would like because they work opposite shifts. How can they not stop and think that hey you still crawl into bed together everynight and feel them sleeping there next to you and you know they are safe. I don't. I crawl into our bed alone and soon I will be laying there wondering where he is, what he is doing, and if he is ok. How can they not understand it's like punching me in the gut everytime they say stuff like that?! Why do I have to point it out, doesn't anyone think outside of their own lives to be able to see when someone is hurting? I'm not going to tell them. I'm not going to ask for help. Yes, I am stubborn and in the long run I may have things to deal with in order to be normal again when he gets home, but I'm not going to run around trying to find someone who cares, knowing that just don't really know how.

Put on a happy face. Pretend it's all good. No one knows because no one is really looking into my eyes to know. Even I fool myself. I go through the day, thinking of all the stuff the kids and I can do this summer and how much fun we are going to have, like everything is normal and the sad truth is that it is normal. He wasn't around for so much time after we got married because he was always training. Our lives haven't really changed since I was single and when I really allow myself to think about it, I'm pissed. I'm angry that I allowed myself to love again when I only chose someone who wouldn't be there and I would be on my own again. I want to be pampered and loved and important to my partner, but how could I have all the things I always wanted a marriage to be when my husband isn't here? I know it's selfish, but it's how I feel right now.

I asked him if he thought our marriage was strong enough to last during a year of being apart and he said yes. No hesitance, nothing. Just yes. So, if he believes it why am I so scared?

I returned home after visiting with my husband to say our last goodbyes before he leaves on his deployment. Everything seems so surreal right now. Like I wasn't even really there and none of this is truly happening. He cried this time when we said goodbye. I was surprised. He is always so soldierish that I didn't think he would ever let it go like that. Oh, not that he was balling or anything but just to see a tear slide down his cheek was something.

I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now. Part of me wants to break down and cry for all that I feel like I'm losing but the rest of me wants to shove it somewhere away from me and just move forward. Part of doing that is so silly because things that happened in our relationship that bugged me that I never really dealt with with him are the things that are crossing my mind and I'm actually getting angry all over again. I've always known that the easiest emotion to feel is anger, but the timing seems a bit ridiculous.

So, this is the beginning of the real journey. I don't know where it will take us, but if you keep reading, I'm sure you'll find out all the good, bad, and the ugly.

Forgive me for my moment of being a girl, but......................


Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! (jumping up and down clapping like a kid)

Tomorrow.......looking into his eyes........seeing him in front of me..............laughing with him over silly things..............just being together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sigh, I cannot wait. 3 days of being together and a 12 hour drive where he is all mine on the fourth day.........thank goodness for passes.

I will blog more soon, but for now, I have some reaquainting to do........

I get to see him this week and I can't wait!!!!!

If I were counting the days left I would tell you it is only 10 days away and I will once again be in his arms and all this blubbering I have been doing will have to be put away so I can enjoy our last days together before he is off American soil.

Sometimes I feel so proud of myself that I have made it this far and without any major public melt downs. Oh I have had them, but in the privacy of my room at night or the bathtub with bubbles and a beer. He still has no idea the hell that rages inside me every day. He said he will find this blog someday so he can know all of what I've been saying and I told him he is free to read but I would ask that he wouldn't until he is home for good. He asked why and I told him that the purpose of the blog is to get the things off my chest that I don't want to burden him with and if he read it now, it would defeat the purpose. He then apologized for putting me through this. A small part of me wanted to say that yeah, you volunteered for this....this was your choice to go and no one made you, but you felt an obiligation to the guys more than you did for us....but really, at this point, would it matter. So I said that I knew that he was going to deploy when we decided to get married. It was the catalyst at least to us getting married. That I won't lie and tell him that everything is roses but that this really sucks worse than anything I have experienced in my short little life, but if I have to go through this year to get to a lifetime of us being together then it will always be worth it. He said that's exactly what he needed to hear, and in a way I knew that it was. Did I mean it, yes...unequivocally, but I am still scared about this next year. This has only been 8 weeks so far.....there are still 52 more to go......WTF?!?!?!?

I have read other wives blogs and thought to myself that they have had it much worse and it's much suckier when your hubby is active military. I don't know if I could do it. I have always had a fascination for the military (no not just the uniforms, although it is a benefit). But I have to say that if, God forbid, our relationship doesn't work out I will never date or marry anyone in the military. Not because I don't respect and honor them for being heroes because I do, but I don't think there will be anything left of my heart to go through this again. I don't mean to sound disrespectful to our military heroes, but it takes just as much a hero to love them and I don't think I'm there.

It's been awhile...I had a fun time with the stomach flu that my daughter graciously shared with me.....but we are all better now. So the news for this week is that as of Friday it will be 2 weeks and I will get to see my husband again for 4 days!!!! I'm so excited and so nervous at the same time. I don't want him to see me cry. I've been doing so good while he's been gone that I can hear in his voice that he has regained his confidence in being there because he isn't worried about me. I need to keep it that way, but I just want to curl up in his arms and let it all out because he always makes me feel better and safer. I need to keep it together. I have so much to do before he comes home....I can't believe it's been almost 7 weeks already.....and I feel like I have accomplished nothing! Now I'm in panic mode.

Why are we so afraid to really say what's on our minds or really what's happening in our lives? Is it because we are afraid that we'll lose the facade of the loving wife waiting at home for her knight in shining armour and that all is well in the castle?

Here's my unsaid....I purposely keep stuff inside so my husband and I don't fight when he calls because deep inside I am afraid that he won't call back if we fight about something. I don't tell my friends and family that I sometimes cry at night so hard that my stomach actually hurts the next day because I don't know how I am going to make it a whole year pretending everything is ok. I am scared to death that when he comes home that I will lose it because I won't know how to be real again and I will be too scared of getting hurt to let him back in. Sometimes when people are talking to me inside I'm screaming to just leave me alone and that they aren't the person I want to see standing in front of me. I fantasize occassionally that I can get in the car and drive away into a new life that doesn't hurt anymore. Secretly for all the reasons that everyone is so proud of me because I have been calm and together so far are the same reasons that will eventually kill off the real me and I won't ever be able to come back. I am angry and I hate everyone who had anything to do with taking my life away from me just when it was getting started. I am angry with him because I don't think he will ever know really what this year will do to me. I feel guilty because I know if I was a good wife and a good person I would be more worried about what this year will do to him. I worry that when he comes home that he will be so distant and blocked off from me that I wont want to deal with anymore pain and our relationship will end in bitterness and anger and I will lose my best friend when all I really want is to have him back.

These are all the things I keep inside and hide behind my "I'm a military wife and I'm soooo strong" face. There I said it.

I mentioned to him a couple days ago that I was reading the profiles to some of the other wives in our unit to get to know them a little better. What I ended up noticing was that I don't feel like I fit in anywhere. I kinda feel like one day I'm going to be walking somewhere and they are going to see me on the street and point and yell that I'm a poser. I shouldn't call myself an army wife.



I know this seems kinda weird. I really understand that and I'm not losing what little of my sanity I have left, but bear with me for a moment. My husband and I dated for a couple years before we got married. We got married this past May. It is now 9 months later and we haven't been together for most of our marriage. Prior to meeting him I was divorced and a mother of two. I went back to school (which I'm finished next month....yahoo) and I worked full time and took care of them and all that they had going on. I know how to take care of things on my own and that part of our separation doesn't bother me at all because that's the life I'm used to. This is where I don't feel like I fit. I just miss him. I just want him around because I like him as a person and I love him as a man. But I don't feel like I have the right to be put in the category as the other wives because they are dealing with everything on their own, some new, some again, but it's not the norm for them.


The other part is that frankly, I hear of some of the things the guys do for their wives to let them know they love them and my husband isn't like that. I know I'm not the typical girly wife and he's probably just used to me not needed that sort "love", but sometimes I do want to feel special and like I'm important to him just because of who I am and not just because I take care of him.

I don't think any of this even made sense, but it has been rolling around in my head and I just wanted to get it off my mind.

I would like to just say again, thank you for all the great support. It does make a difference.

I go from one minute thinking maybe I don't love him enough to the next day feeling like I can't do one more minute apart from him. I do feel that this separation is not helping our relationship grow. How can it? We aren't with each other. The longest conversation we've had usually lasts about a half hour..most of them are a few minutes. I feel so far away from him, like I'm not really married and he really doesn't exist and one morning I'm going to wake up and look at my hand and the rings will be gone and I'll realize this has just been one big "Dallas" dream.

Speaking of dreams, I've been having doosies lately, which isn't helping me at all. Every other dream is him ignoring me or pretending he doesn't know me. Or worse, he is someplace with someone else. Or last night was him telling me he just doesn't love me the same way anymore. So I guess as much as I put it to rest during my waking hours and go about my day, it never truly goes away. It just lies in wait until I'm not doing anything else and comes out to haunt me. I've really had enough.

I will be able to see him in 6 weeks. I'm actually really nervouse about it. Mostly of opening back up and feeling all the stuff I've hidden away for so long. How can a few days be enough to say goodbye again? And how do you say goodbye again? This time knowing he's leaving and he won't be in a safe place anymore. Letting them go to stay back home and wait day by day for some word that everything is ok. Broken conversations, moments that aren't long enough, the dreaded missing the call. A year of that is ahead of me and I think I'm already so tired of living this way. I still have a full year from now. How? I want so many lost moments back and I can't ever go back and it's killing me inside.

Oh, and just a word to those wives out there who have their husbands home and say to a military wife whose spouse is deployed that you hardly ever get to see your husband because you work opposite schedules and only get a few days per week with each other can bite my tired lonely ass when you say those stupid things to me and I don't fully respond with a poor you. Wake up people......

Ok, I'm fine with all the flowers and candy and all that crap....it really wasn't until someone's husband came to work to visit her and told her he got a chalet for the weekend for the two of them. We used to do that. That bothered me. Now I'm sad.......I want him back.

The great news is that he's coming home next month for a few days and then we are driving back to his base for his final ceremony. I really want to see him again, but what is killing me is how are you supposed to act normal during that time when you know you are trying to squeeze everything in in a few short days? I'm honestly scared that I will do something to ruin it because I will look at him and see again what I will be losing for a year. A year?!!! Who decided this was ok?

It's been a little over 3 weeks and my emotions have run amok. I've been angry, sad, bitter, scared, dead, and just plain confused. That can happen over a span of time or all the emotions running together at once. What is a year going to do? What is it going to feel like if we can only talk every few weeks? How do you sleep? How do you think? How do you function?

And now he will be with me and I am actually frozen. I want so badly to see him and be with him again, but I don't want to say goodbye again. Especially knowing this time it isn't just to send him somewhere safe....this goodbye is the one that has to last for a year. This is the one that is going to matter the most and how am I supposed to hug him goodbye and let go? How can you just let go to someone that fills every part of your soul and your supposed to just walk away and hope and pray that the next year of your life flies by so you can finally say hello again?

Yes it's irrational but I want someone from the military to explain to me why it's ok to take our husbands away and leave us here alone to worry and be lonely while they do battle with enemies that are cowards and can't even face them when they fight. They have to hide and set things off and run away like little bullies. Our men stand there and take it and they have to go through all this red tape just to be able to defend themselves. Well, if no one is going to let my husband protect himself so he can come home to me so that we can resume our lives with each other, the way it was meant to be then get out of my way and let me do it. Let all of us do it. Or just bring them home where they belong.

I want to rage, but there is no one to rage against. I want to beat the crap out of my demons but I can't tell where they are coming from. All I know is that one morning I woke up with my husband by my side and that night when I crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep, I was alone and he was gone. That is my reality right now and I hate it.

It's been awhile since I last wrote. So much has happened and not happened. I was re-reading my last post and it seems the tide has turned. I was talking about how much he had changed and how it wasn't fair to those of us left behind, but let me tell you, something has changed in me. I don't take crap from anyone, including him now. I don't know why. I'm not mean or a witch about it, but if something isn't ok with me, I say it. Before, I would keep my mouth shut and shove it down in my gut and go on until I exploded about something else. Part of this change though hasn't been good for him. He said I don't tell him I miss him as much as he misses me and last week he blew up about something really stupid and when he got off the phone the guys tore him a new one about it because they heard him. After that, I told him exactly what went through my head the next couple days. I told him how I wasn't going to live the next year in fear of what if we fight and then we can't talk or then he gets hurt or anything and it wasn't even something I did. I won't do it. So I'm shut down. We talk and he has been his old self on the phone. Counting the days until we can see each other for his leave, telling me he misses me and all the stuff I wanted to hear so badly a couple weeks ago and now I don't know how to respond. I know that I feel the same way. I love him with all my heart and soul and I want him to come home so bad so we can just be us again, but I can't let those feelings come out. I'm not going to lose it this time. I am not going to spend this year crying and being afraid. I'm doing exactly what he told me to do, but now he doesn't seem to like it, but I can't find the middle ground. I'm nervous about seeing him next month. I want him to know that I love him, but in all the times in the past when I would show it while he was away he would get mad, so I'm being perky and funny when we talk like we're old buds, I don't know what else to do.

The conversations have already begun to be distant. He already isn't the man that left just a week ago. The Army prepares the soldiers to become soldiers. They make them into someone else so that they concentrate on the job ahead of them. They leave who they are behind and they go as another entity.

We don't.

We remain. We are still home. We are still doing everything we used to do. We still get up every morning to the same pattern and we remain the same. But we are missing a piece of our lives. They aren't missing anything in this new life of theirs. I know they have to survive and I would give them any tools they needed to do so, but how do our hearts and emotions survive this. I want him to miss me and I really want to hear some emotion in his voice when he tells me he loves me. I have had a dream almost every night this past week that we were splitting up. While I may go on my day to day activities, and I have been busy, I guess this fear still sits in my gut until I go to sleep and then it lets me know it hasn't released me.

I saw a soldier in the store yesterday and I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to see my husband's face when he turned around. I wanted it to be some horrible mistake that I thought he was gone, but that he was really home and everything was ok. But it wasn't his face and I my heart sank. I have a hard time looking at couples holding hands or doing something silly like he and I used to do. A friend reminded me that it has only been a week and things will get better with time. But will it? Will it hurt less when he calls and inside I am screaming for some show of love but on the outside stay strong? Will it be ok when we don't talk for weeks and I'm wondering if it's because he doesn't want to or can't?

My hope is that I can look back at this blog a year from now and be able to say that I have learned something about myself. I hope I can say that I am stronger because of it. I hope I can put an end to this chapter and find myself ready to start a new life with my husband by my side. I guess my biggest fear is that that won't happen.

Out of all the emotions I should be feeling, why am I feeling angry? Why is everything that bugged me about him before coming to the surface and bugging me now. This is when I should be bending over backwards to show him how much I love him. The other night he called to ask when my birthday was. I felt so valued. Insert sarcastic sound here. I know everything about him and he can't even remember when my birthday is? Anyway, I was really sick to my stomach that night and I had to go, like immediately, so after answering his question I said I really don't feel good and I have to let you go. So he starts about how I don't want to talk to him. I explained that I wasn't feeling good and he actually said so you are admitting you don't want to talk to me. I told him he could call me back, but I really had to go right now and I love him. He mumbled it back and hung up. I haven't talked to him since. So I've been asking myself why I bend over backwards to get him everything he could possibly need or want and show him I love him and how much he means to me and he can't understand that I was sick. He never even called to make sure I was ok. It really hurts that I will be putting my whole life on hold for someone who doesn't seem to really care all that much unless I'm not meeting his needs. And I'm angry that I feel like this because I do love him and I'm scared and I miss him and I hate that all that has to be marred by feelings of guilt. I give up.

Wow, so much has happened over the last few days. He left very early Sunday morning. I took him to the armory around midnight Saturday night. It was so weird. Trying to think of something to say that would truly represent what I was feeling about him and the next year and every emotion I could lump into one phrase. But I couldn't. All I could do was hug him and try to remember how his arms felt around me. How his lips felt against mine and try to committ that to my memory for the next year. Then we said "See ya later...." and I watched him walk into the armory. And I got in the car and drove away.

All the emotions came over me and I sobbed while I drove home. Then I walked into the house and his work boots were sitting next to the bed and his jeans with the belt still in them that he was just wearing a few hours ago hung on the closet hook and I the strangest feeling hit me that he would be home in a few hours. He really wasn't leaving for a year. And then the deepest sadness I have ever felt hit my stomach and my chest and I felt I had just lost my best friend.

So far, I have left the jeans and the boots where they are and his basket full of clean laundry that is by his dresser. I just can't let it go yet. As much as I want to clean, I just want things to remain the way that they were when he left. This has been much harder than I thought it would be. I thought after a few weeks is when it would hit me because I was used to him being gone that long, but it's already the hardest thing I've have felt.

We had the deployment ceremony yesterday. It was gutwrenching, but at the same time I felt less alone. As I was trying to hide my own tears I looked around and watched them fall around me. Children, moms & dads, wives, girlfriends, friends and I realized that I'm not abnormal for how I've been feeling, as much as he tries to make me think I am. A kid sitting next to me said "deployment sucks". Well, doesn't that sum it up. Nothing could be added to that, I could only agree.

So here we are at the end of a years worth of prep. Now the emotions are higher and now I'm mad. I'm mad that he can walk around and not seem to care that he's going. Ok, protect yourself, protect me whatever, but I need to know you love me. I need to know that waiting here for a year in constant anxiety will be worth it when you get home. That you want to get home to me. Any sign.....anything?

But no. We lose our husbands before they even go. Who will they be when they come back? Who will we be? Is it wrong to want to talk instead of watch tv? Is it wrong to just want to hold each other until we go to sleep? Is it wrong to want to love you?

It will soon be here. That final hug. The final look. The final kiss. The final drive home alone.

Yes, you read that title correctly. I found out last night that the last weekend I thought we would have, we won't have. I can't take one more thing. Everything gets taken away. Everything has changed a thousand times. Just grin and bear it, Kim. You don't matter one bit.

I just want it to be over, this up and down. I want it to begin so my only concern can be that I miss him and wondering how he is doing. I feel like I'm fighting a battle alone against enemies that keep changing so they are always fresh. They never tire of the game that is making my insides raw. I had to leave the house last night so I could go to the river and sit in my car and cry. A real, rip it out of my guts cry. Because I'm sick of hiding aroung the house trying to be ok so that he doesn't get upset. I'm sick of being what everyone else needs. I'm sick of the stupid things people say to you that's supposed to make it all better. I'm sick of pretending that I'm ok. I'm sick of being awake!

This is a raw post and for that I apologize, but I have to say that this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do and the hardest part hasn't even happened yet. I felt like someone was sitting on my chest last night. I couldn't breath and yet I wanted to scream. I wanted to not love him so it wouldn't matter. I wanted to pretend that this doesn't have anything to do with me and that it doesn't hurt. I don't know what to do with myself. My thoughts bang in my head and my heart feels like it will explode. I hate this. I hate all of this. With every fiber of my being I wish that he didn't need to be a soldier. That he didn't volunteer to do this because the other guys were going and they are brothers. I wish I mattered more to him that he wouldn't have wanted to go. I wish I would have never loved a soldier.

But I did. I do. I love him more than I have ever loved another. Yet, I look at him and wonder, what is so special about this man that makes me want to stop all life around us for just one look from him. One moment with him that matters. One anything with him. Does he feel that way about me? I have no idea. He can't show much emotion right now and that is its own bitter arrow in my heart. When he tells me that he will always be here for me, it mocks me. It actually hurts because I want to scream back at him, "No, you won't be. You chose to leave me. You chose someone else was more important that us. You chose the war over our relationship." But I can't scream any of that stuff. It matters only to me. It hurts only me. It is the pain that I carry in my rucksack, and now I'm starting my 400 day march.

Meltdown......total and complete. Last night I found out I will be going to the ceremony by myself because they need him to be on duty. Ok, so all the other families get to go with their soldier, but not me. Is this what military life will always be about? Just take it, keep your mouth shut, there's nothing you can do.

He told me my eyes were filled with dispair last night. I give up.

We spent a wonderful weekend together, just the two of us. It was perfect in every way. We really are best friends, even if we didn't get the extra special gift of loving each other. He's even starting to take a moment to tell me how much he loves me. He said he isn't looking forward to saying goodbye. Me either. I haven't cried in front of him this week and I hope not to during this week. He knows how deeply I love him and how hard this is so why make it harder on him? I need to show him that I'm ok and that I will be fine while he is gone. All he needs to do is come back home to me.

I'm off of work on the 21st and that's probably the day I will let all this stress go and have a hot bubble bath and a good cry.

Ok, as some of you may have noticed I changed the design of my blog. Instead of the black forboding look, I went into more natural colors. I did have a reason for it and it wasn't just to play, although I am a computer nerd at heart and I do enjoy learning new stuff.

Anyway, I did it because I felt as though I should begin anew. I re-read a lot of my posts and realized how whiny and weak they sounded. I don't regret posting them because those thoughts are truly how I felt at the time and I wanted to be as raw as I can be on this blog. What I do regret is that I didn't immediately have the inner strength I thought I would have. I regret that I moved my house to a sand foundation.

What I hope to accomplish this year that he is gone is a better sense of myself. More confidence, more backbone, more strength, a bigger set!!!! I hope to be able to look back and mock myself for how weak I ONCE was and am now no longer.

All those feelings I talked about are real. I will miss him. I will worry about him. I will get upset because he isn't in bed beside me. I will want to rage when something amazing happens and he isn't there to share it with. I will be bitter when I need a hug and there's no one there to give it to me. But all those things can't be helped, but they can be dealt with better. I can be stronger than I have been and I will be. Stay tuned and hold me accountable when I falter. I welcome all your advice and comments. And for everyone of you that have reached out to me to encourage me or just share the moment with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You all offer something to me that is unique in it's own way and something that I will always keep with me during this time. We are not alone. We will survive. We will thrive.

You may have read the title and thought....huh? Then again, those of you familiar with the military way of doing things may not even give it a passing thought. I'm happy that we have a few more days together, especially since they are weekend days and we can actually hang out. Yet somehow I think we won't be hanging out in a comfy way. We'll probably be running around packing the last minute things trying not to get on each other's nerves, I'll shut down and then he'll realize I'm not talking anymore and try to apologize and I'll give him the it's ok smile when really my insides are seizing. I wonder if they know how much we are feeling inside that we can't let out. I wonder how much they are feeling but won't let out. He's already in the "it's just a job" mode and he has to do his job. No emotion to it, nothing to let me know that this affects him too. Inside though, I feel a little dead. Maybe everything has finally spilled over and hit the shut off valve.

I had a great talk with my daughter last night. She's 8 and I thought that she and my son didn't really understand the full impact of Scrapper being gone for a whole year. He's gone away for a few weeks, which seems long to them, but he's always come home. I didn't think they realized what this was meaning. But last night my daughter said that she worries about him leaving and how she's scared that something will happen to him and how sad I'm going to be because I just married him and it's really not fair that he has to leave. She said she didn't want to say anything to me because she didn't want me to be sad about it. So, now I know that my kids do understand and they are trying to protect me.

8 days left....tick tock, tick, tick, tick......

So today I decided to give my husband a blog name. I have read other blogs and the wives have a nickname for their hubby so it came to me today, like a smell that reminds you of something familiar.

His name forevermore shall be Scrapper.

As you scream for the answer of why.....let me tell you. Settle down in front. Ok. My husband is not a big guy, BUT for the love all that is unholy, DO NOT MESS WITH HIM!!!!!!! He cracks me up sometimes with his stories of fighting with this guy or that guy and honestly, I kind of thought that he was telling me the stories to impress me. Well, when I was at the armory for the blessed FRG event, this guy came up to him to ask about a formation and he honestly looked scared to talk to my husband. My husband????? He's a big loveable goofball. Of course, I won't let out that little secret to "the guys". But really, it was a bit of amusement for the day. Especially, considering my impression of him before we started dating. I'll tell that story one day on the blog, when I need to reminisce a little while he's gone. I love the story and I love my little Scrapper!!!!

I can't help it, it makes me smile every time I write it.

Nine days left until "the day". It doesn't quite seem real yet, like someone is going to pop up and say "ha! I got ya". I don't think I'm grasping all of this anymore. I'm kind of on autopilot. There is so much do on top of regular life that I don't know what I'm feeling. He's gone today for just an overnight trip for supplies and I'm almost looking forward to a night alone. How messed up is that????? He's leaving next week and I want a night alone?!?!??!? What is wrong with me?

I have been diligent in reading about other couples who are dealing with a deployment and how they ended up fighting all the time before he left because the tension was just so high. I would read those while sitting on my soapbox thinking, we won't do that because we love each so much and we won't want to waste any time with fighting.

STUPID!!!!!

There, I said it for you. Yes, I thought I could make things ok as long as I prepared the best I could for all that was to happen.

WRONG!!!!!

We have fought, I have cried, he has shut down and together we are miserable. We are polar opposites. I want to be closer to him before he goes. To hold on to our memories and make a few more before he leaves. To be the couple that we were when we decided our lives wouldn't be the same without the other. To hold on to something that just isn't there anymore. And he is shutting down. Closing off from what he probably feels will hurt him in the long run. Me. The kids and our lives together.

Part of me says fight for it, keep working on it, keep letting him know that you love him so much. But the rest of me is just so tired. Emotionally, I'm drained. I'm exhausted. I walk around with this crushing feeling in my chest every day now, and I don't know how to fight for something when the other person is just so far away, emotionally. Do I think he loves me? Yes, but I don't think he can show me the way I desperately need him to right now. Should I be more understanding? Yes, I think I should be and I do try to understand, but it hurts so bad when you want to be closer to someone because you love them and they won't allow it for whatever reason.

How do you not break during this time?