A rambling by an AF wifey ;)

If you're a loyal reader of my blog, you know that I'm an Army brat (my dad is in fact still "in")and that I'm a proud Air Force wife...a Cop's wife at that. These military communities do an excellent job of helping one understand how and what to be grateful for, on any given day, none in particular. Too often we are separated from extended family and even immediate family during the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and any other day of the year. It may be as little as a three-day TDY to Florida or Alabama, or Texas, or as long as a year-long overseas deployment (with true return date: TBD).

This is life. This is our life: Coping with being lonely. Learning how to be alone. Understanding how a missed call really does feel like the end of the world (that make-you-want-to-vomit-and-crawl-into-a-hole-until-it-rings-again-feeling). Knowing just how busy to stay. Being comforted that your friends can empathize with the pre-, during, and post-deployment phases.

We deal with the same day-to-day frustrations as those outside the gates; dead car batteries, finding a sitter, meeting the daily grind. But we also elbow and fight our way through the nuances only experienced by our fellow "dependants." (Like ER not really standing for anything related to an emergency.) :/

Our life has perfected the definition of uncertainty and the "hurry up and wait" method. We're all riding the tidal wave together. We've learned how to balance atop it, or otherwise get beaten down and sucked into the undertow.

We look forward to and are anxious about reunions...Have I changed? Has he changed? Will they remember me? Will I fit in again or will I be in the way?

Being a military family is to be in the heart and mind of a beast; moving and living inside it everyday, but never truly knowing his next move, what he's thinking, or just how powerful yet vulnerable that beast is. When compared to someone's life on the outside, it's quickly realized that life, this life, is anything but normal. We just do a good job of making it appear that way.

I am humbled daily by the kids, men, and women that live and survive this life. It's not for the faint of heart.

I have a great appreciation for life on both sides of the fence... A life we each and all can do anything we want with, because of those that stand and do something for a greater good, for our-collective-own good. They come in young and are given great responsibilities. But every day is just another ordinary, average day for the camo-wearers of "this great nation." God bless'em, I cannot thank them enough.