Saturday 9 May 2009

I wrote Oprah!

Oprah wanted to hear from Military spouses advice that you'd give other military families. So, I figured, what the hell, I'll write Oprah, or as my grandma calls her, Ofrah. Here's what I wrote:

My name is Jessica and I am a Navy Wife. I married my High School sweetheart when we were 20 years old the day after he graduated from his "C" school in the Navy. A week and half after our wedding, he left for his first deployment. Thus is the life of someone who loves a military man. That first year he was in the Navy we spent less than 30 days total together. Was it difficult? Of course. Would I go back and change it? No. Being apart and having to rely on emails, rare phone calls, trust, love, and most important, faith, got us through that time and made us stronger.

The best advice I could ever give another military family is to love one another while they're gone. Stress levels are going to be high, those boys are working long shifts on no sleep and on nothing but homesickness; the last thing they need is stress from back home. So if they call and try to pick a fight (or if you try to), take a deep breath and remember, the petty arguments can wait til they're back home and in your arms. I can remember being roused from sleep at 3 or 4 am and being instantly awake at the sound of my husband's voice...cherish those moments, those stolen whispers in the middle of the night that remind you why you're doing this, because those moments, those memories will get you through the days where it feels like they'll never be home.

And, you're going to have bad days. There are going to be days when your chest is so heavy with worry and sadness and longing that all you do is sit on the sofa in your pajamas and cry at commercials. And that is okay, we ALL have those days. But its also okay to get up off the couch and live your life and be happy because while your man is gone, he'd much rather hear about a busy day so he knows you're okay, rather than worry that you're hiding away becoming a shut-in while he's gone.

And in honor of my Navy Man... here's us on the day of his re-enlistment (last October)

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