HOOAH

Before Kurt and I were dating I used to say, “I could NEVER be an Army wife”.  The day we reconnected (we met when we were 15/16) he had been down at the MEPS  in St. Louis signing his life away but perhaps by divine intervention he didn’t that day.  If he had I wouldn’t have stuck around, I wasn’t emotionally invested yet.  Kurt didn’t join the Army till we had been married just over a year.

People say things to me all the time like, “I don’t know how you do it.”  I don’t think I have ever thought to myself, “I can’t do this life” now that I am in it.  Don’t get me wrong, when your husband is deployed and you have three vomiting children as well as yourself it’s rough.  There is no one to take care of you and no one (except your mom) would be willing to set foot in your house which should be covered with biohazard tape and waste basins.  I assure you, your husband working overtime or going on a brief business trip is not the same. We do things like take care of our kids all day have to take all of them to the grocery store (or the dreaded post office) , sometimes during naptime, mow the grass or find someone to, take the car to get serviced, figure out what that weird noise is out back and take everyone to the Emergency room or Urgent Care for the kid with bronchitis because…we don’t have a choice. But that is okay, we chose to marry our soldier or supported him joining the military.

In fact, the military has come a long way from how it used to be for wives.  We get phone calls, emails, and sometimes even webcam dates! We don't have to sit around and wait for weeks or months for a letter from our husband...or a telegram bringing devastating news. Military bases are like mini cities, we have a hospital, schools, grocery store, gas stations, pools, gyms, a movie theatre, churches...the list goes on and on.

There are four basic cons I find about Army life for myself:

1)      Your husband deploys, sometimes for long periods of time and is in imminent danger.

2)      Often times you don’t live anywhere near your family.

3)      You move a lot, which means you say goodbye a lot.

4)      Commissary baggers (only an military wife will get this one)

However, I don’t hate my life.  It is a steady paycheck that keeps a roof over my head and food on my table and in my kids bellies. You may not have family close but you forge amazing friendships with people you come to know as your military family. They do things for you like go buy you Gatorade and Sprite when everyone is sick, come to the hospital to comfort you when your husband is in Afghanistan and you got some disheartening news, watch your kids when you have a need and don’t bat an eye to feed them and furthermore refuse any monetary compensation.  Our healthcare doesn’t cost us anything (well, sometimes time and aggravation), it also covers just about anything you can imagine. When you travel through an airport wonderful people come up and tell you, “Thank you for serving” and sometimes you even get a free meal out of the deal! And last but not least, the pride that comes from saying, “I am an Army wife. A lot of the time I am just like a single parent but I am proud my husband wears that uniform. He believes we can do good.”

I miss my family and friends back home. I miss the friends I have had to tell goodbye and know I will not likely cross paths with again. However, I like my life and am proud of my husband. HOOAH baby.