Letter to the War on Terrorism
"Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer." ~Author Unknown
To: The War on Terrorism
From: A Military Wife
If I can be honest for a moment, I'm tired. It has been seven long years since your name graced the tables of our house and was muttered on our lips. Ever since you became a part of our life, things have ceased to be normal. I understand why you are here. I understand why you are necessary. I'm just not sure you understand the impact you have had on my life.
In an instant, my husbands' life has sped up. Everything he has done for his work has become urgent and necessary and strategic. When he makes even the smallest decision at work, at any of the jobs he has done in the last seven years, lives are at stake. I see this in his eyes on the nights that he comes home. The continual stress of something so important as others lives and others freedoms shows in his whole being.
If we were ever different before as a military family, we definitely are now. When the dryer or washer starts to do the jig because of the clothes, my husband has flashbacks to mortar rounds flying in. When a balloon pops in a public setting, he first considers the lives of those around us in case of an attack. When we are heading out of the house for a family fun event, if we aren't exactly on time, he is sure there are dire consequences. He leaves for work early to accommodate all those he works for that are on foreign soil. He comes home from work late in the evening because decisions had to be made and issues solved in regards to you. When others have a half day for a holiday weekend, his half day starts at 6am and ends at 4pm. The longer you are in our lives, the farther and farther you draw him out.
This is what makes me tired. I'm fighting my own war at home. I have to have a strategy for keeping my husband on an even course. I have to have a contingency plan for those days that he forgets that he is home in America. I have to fight as hard to remind him of how beautiful the world can be as you have to fight about how terrible it can get.
The most important thing I wanted you to know is that I'm not backing down. You stay as long as is necessary, I'll be here holding on as well. Long after you are gone, or if you never go away, I will be standing by my husband. We took vows long ago to be a union of one, to love, honor, cherish and stay together, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for as long as we both shall live. I'm going to make sure he comes away from all of this as whole as possible. I'm here to make sure he doesn't lose his perspective.
I just wanted you to know, my war is one worth fighting for too.
To: The War on Terrorism
From: A Military Wife
If I can be honest for a moment, I'm tired. It has been seven long years since your name graced the tables of our house and was muttered on our lips. Ever since you became a part of our life, things have ceased to be normal. I understand why you are here. I understand why you are necessary. I'm just not sure you understand the impact you have had on my life.
In an instant, my husbands' life has sped up. Everything he has done for his work has become urgent and necessary and strategic. When he makes even the smallest decision at work, at any of the jobs he has done in the last seven years, lives are at stake. I see this in his eyes on the nights that he comes home. The continual stress of something so important as others lives and others freedoms shows in his whole being.
If we were ever different before as a military family, we definitely are now. When the dryer or washer starts to do the jig because of the clothes, my husband has flashbacks to mortar rounds flying in. When a balloon pops in a public setting, he first considers the lives of those around us in case of an attack. When we are heading out of the house for a family fun event, if we aren't exactly on time, he is sure there are dire consequences. He leaves for work early to accommodate all those he works for that are on foreign soil. He comes home from work late in the evening because decisions had to be made and issues solved in regards to you. When others have a half day for a holiday weekend, his half day starts at 6am and ends at 4pm. The longer you are in our lives, the farther and farther you draw him out.
This is what makes me tired. I'm fighting my own war at home. I have to have a strategy for keeping my husband on an even course. I have to have a contingency plan for those days that he forgets that he is home in America. I have to fight as hard to remind him of how beautiful the world can be as you have to fight about how terrible it can get.
The most important thing I wanted you to know is that I'm not backing down. You stay as long as is necessary, I'll be here holding on as well. Long after you are gone, or if you never go away, I will be standing by my husband. We took vows long ago to be a union of one, to love, honor, cherish and stay together, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for as long as we both shall live. I'm going to make sure he comes away from all of this as whole as possible. I'm here to make sure he doesn't lose his perspective.
I just wanted you to know, my war is one worth fighting for too.
WOW! WOW! WOW!
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This is so very well written and I can completely empathize and understand. Your Blog touches me each and every time as a retired Soldier and as a mother. Thank you.
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Thank you, Joyce. We will make it through this, however long it takes, and we'll make it through rebuilding the lives of those who serve and then I'm sure we'll look back and realize how this has shaped us all in one way or another. God Bless You for your dedication to our country and to those who now serve! ~ Pam
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