Deployment Means I’m a Single Wife

Deployment Means I’m a Single Wife

Deployment means I’m a single wife and a single mom. When people were celebrating the Army’s Birthday and Flag Day on June 14th, I dropped off my son at his best friend’s house and was heading to the commissary with his mom. My husband had just left from R&R and was going back to Afghanistan. I was once again a single wife and single mom. Deployment means embracing being a single wife and single mom, but let’s be clear. I’m embracing the suck, not the being single part.

As it always goes with every deployment, no sooner than your spouse leaves everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. So, we’d just got to the March AFB commissary, and we’re just shopping away. We get a phone call from her husband, my son has hurt his eye. He went to get out from under the table, his friend was helping him up, and his head feel back and he hit the underside of a table. The bleeding had stopped, so we finished shopping. We got back and it was definitely black and blue. I decided it was better to be safe than sorry. I took him to the Emergency Room aka ER and he needed Dermabond Glue. It’s basically just liquid adhesive that doctor’s use to close wounds. On a side note, Brawny towels totally saved the day, because this mom cannot see or smell blood. Thank goodness they absorb.

Right after Dermabond was applied.

When we got home, I notified my husband via email and Facebook that EB had hurt his eye. He of course felt bad because he wasn’t here when it happened. My friend was laughing at me because when her husband called I said “Is it like ER bad or just bruised.” As a single wife and single mom, I just have to look at things a little bit differently. I can’t think the worst, or I’ll be on pins and needles all the time. Deployment means strength and perseverance. I have to be strong without my husband, for my son and for myself. I have to be stronger than I normally am and persevere through the obstacles of the deployment, because my husband doesn’t have time to worry about us while he’s in a war zone.

EB is emotionally strong and physically strong. Gymnast problems. HA

Fourth of July with PopsicleBlog.com Family!

EB’s eye is completely better, and yes he loves to be on the computer too.

I’m happy to report that the above photo was taken on July 4th, Independence Day and as you can see his eye is 100% better. Nothing will stop accidents from happening. They happen and you have to use the strength that you never knew you had to get through those things. Strength to our family is defined by perseverance. So, instead of being sad on Flag Day and the Army’s Birthday even with Dermabond holding his eye together and knowing he was going to miss his gymnastics meet, we had dessert and celebrated at home.

Deployment means as a single wife and single mom I have to be strong until he gets back home. It doesn’t mean I have to be miserable and not live life. My son and I go out and do things. During school I help him with homework, he has to be strong and have strength in himself. He can do this without the Financial Engineer here to help him. Daddy’s gone for right now, but he’ll be back. I fix running water, I put furniture together, I go to Crossfit, we ride bikes, we go to gymnastics, we visit friends, but deployment doesn’t stop us from being strong.

When my husband deployed to Iraq in 2006, I had family and friends. While he’s in Afghanistan I’m across the country from my family, over 3,000 miles away, but I’m doing it on my own. Deployment makes me strong. Deployment makes my son strong. We don’t live in a community of military families. There are a few, but not nearly as many as there are elsewhere. National Guard Army wives know this struggle all to well. Our neighbors rarely even know we’re a military family. So, if you’re near a military base, embrace the other wives and spouses that are going through the same things and facing deployment the same as you.

Each deployment makes me stronger and each deployment I find strength I didn’t know that I had before. It’ll never be easy, but that cliche, “Military wife, toughest job in the military.” is ridiculous and absurd. Whoever said that should be smacked. Our brave men and women in uniform are on the front lines protecting us from terrorists dealing with more emotional and sometimes physical pain than any of us at home. We battle wars on the home front in a free country and air conditioned home. That’s why I’m honored to be a Brawny Towels Ambassador because they support the Wounded Warrior Project and THEY, the SOLDIERS, have the toughest job in the military. Rock on to all of you and thank you for the strength that I hope to possess a third of one day. You’re all heroes in my mind. Each and every one of you. Thank you for my freedom and that of my family’s.

• “Like” Brawny Towels Wounded Warrior Project on Facebook. Visit the Brawny® Facebook page to donate $1 to WWP and sign the “Wall of Thanks” Brawny® Paper Towels is encouraging people to help our nation’s heroes by supporting Wounded Warrior Project®- an organization dedicated to honoring and empowering Wounded Warriors.

• Write on the Wall of Thanks and let our Nation’s heroes know that you appreciate them. Tell them FaVe Mom sent you! Brawny® Paper Towels is standing strong alongside Wounded Warrior Project®. Overcoming the physical and emotional challenges of adjusting to ordinary life is a test of strength that every Wounded Warrior and his/her family face on a daily basis. The maker of Brawny® admires this strength and is proud to support the WWP mission.

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