Sunday, January 27, 2008

My Husband's Re-enlistment

Just around Christmas, my husband re-enlisted and was sworn into the Army National Guard. I don't have words to express how proud I am of him. He made a very difficult decision, in the midst of very difficult and uncertain times. That, my friends, takes guts. In the not too distant future, he will be leaving us for about 11 months for training state-side. This is the step to the career change he has been dreaming about for a long time. It hasn't quite hit me yet, how things will be once he is away. I doubt it will until he's gone and I find myself home alone with the kids - doing the job of two parents instead of one. Its going to suck, but like him, I have to look at the long term benefit that will result. How the Moms and Dads of spouses overseas for longer periods cope is amazing - they are heroes too. My thanks goes out to those that give the most for our country...and I am proud to be the wife of one such individual.

8 comments:

  1. What happens after the 11 months? Does he stay in the U.S. or go overseas? How long is he is for? Or is that too far into the future right now? That's going to be tough, especially for your kids too. Good luck with that, I hope the time flies by fast. :)

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  2. He'll come home...as for the possibility of future deployment - you never know. The unit he just joined, recently returned from a tour over in Iraq, so it will be a good while before they would go back. In the meantime, thank goodness for the internet and webcams! Thank you for the kind thoughts too.

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  3. Oh, that's good! It sounds like he planned this out very well. With any luck, that war will be done when the new President comes in. At least we can hope!

    Then there is Afghanistan. There's always SOMEwhere, but hopefully he'll be needed here! I'm reading the Bookseller of Kabul right now, very interesting. Have you ever read that? Also, on your profile I see one of your favorite books is the The Curious Incident of the Dog, that is one I'm reading next. Was it good? :)

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  4. Best of luck to you and your husband. I'll add you to Boo Best Buds' Bitchin' Blogs when I have a free moment.

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  5. I loved "The Curious Incident..," it was so moving and such an insightful account of what it is to be autistic. Temple Grandin is an Autistic Professor/Writer whose first book "Thinking In Pictures" is a must read for anyone interested in the topic. If you like animals (and I know you do), you'd love her latest book "Animals In Translation." In which she really brings to light, the similarities between an animal's thought process and how it is very similar to an Autistic person's. I'm re-reading it now. I haven't read "Bookseller" yet, but I can highly recc. "Reading Lolita In Tehran."

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  6. Thank you Boo! Any blogging tips/feedback are always welcome as well.

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  7. More and more I'm coming into contact with people in the Armed Forces who are being deployed or have been deployed to the war in Iraq/Afghanistan. What your husband has chosen to do is incredibly brave, just as you said. But you are going to have to do is going to be incredibly hard; self sacrificing and brave too. Being a single parent in a two parent family isn't an easy task, especially when the other parent returns home...I know I did it. Best of luck to both of you and with God's will hopefully our troops will be coming home.

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