My friend Beth posted this on her blog and I couldn't help but be moved. This is for all the military spouses around the world who get this. And for all our family and friends who try to understand. We cannot do what we do without the amazing support of our family and friends. God Bless all of you.
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
