Five Months Post Deployment

We have now just about hit the five month post deployment moment for my husband's Kuwaiti assignment.  This is the longest he will be deployed since we've been married given it's a year deployment.  Our youngest, three, will burst out when she's sad that she misses her "daddy."  The middle one, seven, doesn't quite understand the duration aspect of his return.  


Being a military family is definitely a different experience and one that I did not fully understand until we got married almost four years ago this November.  My father was in the Air Force for 13 years before meeting my mom in England, marrying, having a child there and then returning to the States to have myself and then my brother.  By the time I was born, he was already honorably discharged.  So that's my first sorta of experience connected to the military.


I ended up marrying a former Army man who turned National Guard so I was used to the weekend warrior routine and the two week camps in the summer.  Not a big deal as it was only two weeks and he always received double pay from his state job and from the Army. That didn't last but seven years before we unfortunately parted ways post college and the beginning of what began my life as a career woman.


Meeting my husband was different as we met online playing Star Wars.  It was a chance encounter and he was in Iraq at that time.  We met, my children and I uprooted from Indiana to Hawaii, we married and then along came Danielle.  Danielle was premature and so we had some real health issues as we were to PCS (move in civilian terms) within two months of her 30 day early birth.  Altogether, we were in Hawaii for 10 months before we moved to Georgia.


Now, after three years in Georgia, it's time for us to PCS again.  Since he had to serve a one year tour in Kuwait, it stretches out to four years almost for the kids and I.  Unfortunately, we purchased a house thinking he would retire and we would stay ... nope!  So, now while he's deployed, I have to figure out how to get the house on the market and hopefully sold in time for his return.  Otherwise, it looks like he'll be in Texas and we'll be in Georgia.


If you ever wondered what life in the military is like, it's not bad as it has it perks but it's also trying when you have to explain why mommy/daddy has to leave again, when they will be back, that they love you, etc etc.  It's filled with moving every three years, a less than par health care system in some instances and sheer uncertainty.  I can definitely see how children and marriages suffer and being married to a military member is ideal if you are one of those people who don't mind your spouse gone frequently.


The plus side is:  I am proud to be sacrificing for my country.  I love my country and I am proud to be an American.  I hope we can restore the same greatness we used to have and rise above and sparkle to the world.  I am always misty eyed when I see a group of immigrants getting sworn in for citizenship and I still tear up when I hear the National Anthem.  I am a proud patriot and love my country.