This isn't a job, it's an honor

You seem them all the time, bumper stickers, decals, shirts, all saying "Marine Wife, Toughest Job in the Corps" (for all branches).  I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and say to myself that they just can't think of a better word than "job". Some actually believe being a military wife or a military girlfriend is a job...wth? Since when is loving and supporting your husband/boyfriend a job?

Let me explain my point of view. I love my husband with my whole heart and then some, I support him 150% in whatever he wants to do. He wanted to go to Iraq, so I said, "Go ahead honey, I'll be fine." Same thing with Afghanistan. Same thing when he said he wanted to try a MEU. I support him because I love him, not because I'm required to. I could be one of those military wives who can't survive without her husband, the kind that has to rely on her husband for anything and everything. Nah, that's not me. I prefer to be independent. Sure I would rather have my husband home with me but I don't NEED him to have a good time. I have a couple good friends that I can call up and go do something with, I have school to do, I know how to keep myself entertained so I'm not sitting in a corner during an entire deployment, rocking back and forth because I don't want to go out into the big scary world without my husband. I prefer to find the good in every deployment, I want my husband to know that he doesn't have to worry that I'm going to cave in under the pressure. I want him to know that I can hold the fort down while he's gone, and that he has a home waiting for him.

None of this is difficult for me, none of this would make me want to walk away and find some "easier" life. This is OUR life, we have built this life together and nothing would ever make me walk away from it.  Loving him is not difficult, it's the easiest thing in the world because I know we're meant to be together, we're soulmates, we're two halves of the same whole, however you want to put it. Supporting him is not difficult, yes I miss him like crazy when he's gone there's no denying that, and I have rough days where I just want him home with me. But even through everything the Marine Corps throws at us, my support for my husband has never diminished and will never be diminished.

Looking at the "toughest job" part, really? Right now, I am sitting on my couch with my puppies laying on the other couches. All the windows are open and there's a wonderful breeze blowing, the house smells great thanks to Bath and Body works wallflowers. I have a pool to go lay out at if I choose to, I can have whatever my little heart desires to eat, and each night I fall asleep on a nice queen sized bed watching TV. My husband is currently on a ship, he's been to Iraq and Afghanistan before this but we'll look at his life on the ship. He's on a ship, there's a finite area that he can walk around, stretching out in all directions is nothing but blue water. He has to work in a tiny shop with the big parts he works on (he works on helicopter blades and rotors), and it's usually hot as there's no air conditioning. He gets to eat whatever the galley is serving that day, or whatever we've sent him in care packages. Whatever he eats is far from the homecooked meals he loves.  His rack I believe is about 3 feet tall and maybe 5 1/2 feet long, not even the size of a twin bed. He can't stretch out because he's a little too tall for the rack so he has to sleep with his legs bent. Oh, and there's a little curtain for "privacy". He's constantly around the other Marines and Sailors on the ship, most of the areas are very cramped. He doesn't get weekends off, he works 12 hours a day, every day, dealing with all the stupid crap that comes from people who've been around each other way too much for way too long. He's away from everything he knows and loves, no fast food, no random car trips, no beach with our puppies, no me, no homecooked food, no coming home every day from work...the list goes on and on.  So I will not let anyone tell me that I have it harder than he does. My life during deployment is infinitely easier than his, and while I don't love waiting, I love the person I'm waiting for. This will never ever be a job to me, I do this willingly because a life without my husband is unimaginable.