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From:
bstrand@seniorexplorer.com
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 1:12 PM
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Military Wives
This
one was sent to me by James Brown, an old EMC (SS) who went on to become a
BOOMER sailor. TRUE Swede
The Difference
Over the years, I've talked a lot about
military spouses...how special they are and the price they pay for freedom
too. The funny thing about it, is most military spouses don't consider
themselves different from other spouses.
They do what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely
friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the very essence
of what love truly is. Is there truly a difference? I think there is. You
have to decide for yourself.
Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a home
and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and know
they'll live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be short so
they can be transplanted frequently.
Other spouses decorate a home with flair and personality that will last a
lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with the
knowledge that no two base houses have the same size windows or same size
rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and multiple sets are a plus.
Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces.
Other spouses have living rooms that are immaculate and seldom used.
Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The
coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still looks
pretty good.
Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and know
they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can survive.
Military spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and know they
won't see them for months, or for a remote, a year. They are lonely, but
will survive.
Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then write a
check out for getting the hose reconnected. Military spouses will cut the
water off and fix it themselves.
Other spouses get used to saying "hello" to friends they see all the time.
Military spouses get used to saying "good-bye" to friends made the last
two years.
Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president next
year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be accepted in
yet another new school next year and whether that school will be the worst
in the city...again.
Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special
events...birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games, graduation,
and even the birth of a child. Military spouses only count on each other;
because they realize that the Flag has to come first if freedom is to
survive. It has to be that way.
Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled across
the globe and take them down when the troops come home. Military spouses
wear yellow ribbons around their hearts and they never go away.
Other spouses worry about being late for mom's Thanksgiving dinner.
Military spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for dad's
funeral.
And other spouses are touched by the television program showing an elderly
lady putting a card down in front of a long, black wall that has names on
it. The card simply says "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. You would
have been sixty today." A military
spouse is the lady with the card. And the wall is the Vietnam Memorial.
I would never say military spouses are better or worse than other spouses
are. But I will say there is a difference. And I will say that our country
asks more of military spouses than is asked of other spouses. And I will
say, without hesitation, that military spouses pay just as high a price
for freedom as do their active duty husbands or wives. Perhaps the price
they pay is even higher. Dying in service to our country isn't near as
hard as loving someone who has died in service to our country, and having
to live without them.
God bless our military spouses for all they freely give. And God bless!
America.
By Colonel Steven Arrington
17th Training Wing vice commander
Goodfellow AFB
San Angelo, Texas
Taken from the Goodfellow Monitor
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