I don't think most civilians really realize the difference between military time and civilian time. it more then just saying dinner is at 1830 or i have to get oh i have to get up at 0600. there is more to time then just the numbers on a clock.
I don't think any civilian's really "get" the time that is lost when our service members are away.
I want you to sit and think what you had to eat last Saturday for lunch. Do you remember? No? Then think about how long ago last Saturday seemed.... Just how it seemed, in reality it was 7 days, but to a military spouse, that's a lifetime. That's another week they've been apart, another week closer to coming home, or getting that fateful news that they wont be....
Imagine being told that your loved one is being sent away to miss all of the following:
Picture this: He'll be back January 2009. It's only September 2007. Quick glance that's missing a whole year in between. Do you see that?
Jan. 09. Seems a world away huh? You can complete a master’s degree in that time. You could have 2 pregnancies in that time. You can train for a marathon in that time. You can be a whole different person in that time. Or you can sit and support your soldier, lonely and defeated for that whole time. Would you rather be happy or sad for 15 months of your life?
Over 400 days...
Over 52 weeks...
How much does a person change in a year? How much do we grow? How much does your relationship grow and change in a year? Imagine experiencing that growing and changing while you’re here and spouse is half a world away in some foreign land. Except he is growing and changing in ways you could never imagine and never experience.
Tens of thousands of missed moments between the two of you. Watching your lil man learn to walk, or your baby girl asking for you... you don’t have face time with each other you just have trust and love.
2 Christmases--Picture sitting alone in front of a tree and everyone else having their loved ones near them... Just think about this on a small scale at first. Right now you’re planning for Christmas 2007, do you know what you’re doing for Christmas 2007? How about Christmas 2008? Is that to far to think about? Now imagine planning for Christmas 2009. Imagine that being the next Christmas you share with your spouse that doesn’t involve sitting around hoping for that one static 5-minute phone call.
2 Thanksgivings--Picture pulling apart the wishbone with your loved one; remember how far ago Thanksgiving seemed? Yes that's how long he's been gone. And time is still ticking...that was just the beginning. There is still one more to get through before he’ll be home to share one with.
Those are just a couple of the major holidays think about all the minor holidays and special occasion that occur through out the year.
Anniversaries. Imagine knowing your not going to spend your first and second wedding anniversary together. Hoping that Uncle Sam lets you keep your spouse home long enough to share possibly your third wedding anniversary together.
Birthdays and Valentines Day yea you get to skip the next two of those also. Easter, Halloween, New Years, and the fourth of July just to name a few. The missed holidays just keep adding up.
I want you to think of the next time you will see your loved one, are they just in the next room? How much do you appreciate being able to call their name and they are there?
Or are they just a phone call away? Imagine having to sit by the phone PRAYING for that ONE fifteen minute broken up phone call, only to be suddenly cut off by the operator without being able to say you love them. Only to know he can’t just call you right back and your not sure when that next phone call will even come. Instead of sleeping with your spouse your sleeping with the telephone because that is the next best thing. Because maybe just maybe instead of rolling over and seeing your spouse your roll over to the phone ringing and get to hear his voice.
Before comments such as "time will go fast" or "I know how you feel" stop and put yourself into a service members boots, or a wives shoes, and REALIZE that time does not fly when your heart is off fighting a war. Because the days don’t fly by they drag on. The minutes seem like hours, the hours seem like days, the days like weeks, and the weeks like months.
Military spouses and their Soldiers don’t want your pity. They are just living their lives. Going where Uncle Sam tells them to and staying for as long as Uncle Sam feels necessary. While we don’t want your pity we would like your support. Please don’t say you understand or know what we’re going through. Because the truth is you don’t. While you may have a close friend or family member deployed its not the same as having your spouse deployed. Yes you may miss them, but at the end of the day you still have your spouse or significant other right there to turn to for support. We don’t we are facing the hardest most challenging part of our lives separated from the one person who is always suppose to be there with us.
