Military life. What is it really about? To people not in any way affiliated with the military, it's like the show Army Wives. Deployments, drama, heartbreaks, drama, FRGs, drama, overcoming impossible odds...and did I mention drama? While I appreciate the aim of the show to attempt to shed light on what military life is like, I believe it falls short.
So what is it really like? Well, it's much like civilian life. As a military wife, my husband goes to work and comes home every day (when he's not deployed). Sometimes he has to work late, he has to "manage" people, we do normal things, I'm a normal housewife taking care of our dogs, cooking dinner, cleaning, and doing my own thing. When he's deployed, the only difference in my routine is that he's not here to look after. Yeah it sucks to miss him, but I accept it and get into my deployment routine to make time go by faster. In reality, life is pretty darn boring, just like everyone else's. There's no day to day drama, no one's trying to blow me up in a bar (from the first season of Army Wives), and the drama causing wives I just steer clear of...pretty easy actually. But I guess showing the normalcy of military life doesn't make for good ratings.
Sure, there are military wives who think we deserve a ridiculous and unending amount of recognition and praise for all the sacrifices we make. I am not one of those women. I'm only doing what any other woman would do who loved her husband more than life itself. I'm only doing what I know my husband would do for me. When people tell me, "I don't think I could do it," I tell them, "Yes, you could because when you love someone there's no other choice." I still feel strange when people thank me for my service, my service? What do I do? I'm not in the military, my husband is. I do what I do because my husband is the most important person in my life, and any sacrifice I make for him is easy because I know we'll have the time to make it all up.
So, to those who don't know what the military life is all about, I'm here to tell you it's just like your life. Please don't think every military wife is a cheater, or dependent on her husband for everything, including the ability to function. Those attributes might make for good TV but in real life, we're just like you.
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