Not Just A Marine Wife

I have tried writing this several times, but every time I hit the delete button and made those words disappear. What can I say about being a Marine wife? I wrote about it a few years ago [almost to the day now] about being a Marine wife. Of course then I was newly married - literally just a month - and how much did I really know about being a Marine wife then? Yes, I knew about being with a Marine but I was only a Marine wife of 30 days so my knowledge was limited.

And now I'm here to tell you that I am now a Marine wife of two years and honestly, not much has changed since that post written two years ago (read it here). Well, other than he's a captain now. He's gone for longer again! And we have this tiny [or not so tiny depending on how you look at it] person that lives in the yellow room of our house.

But even now am I really a Marine wife? I'm actually more of a part-time Marine wife, full time software engineer wife (but that doesn't have the same ring to it). My Marine is only a reservist. I'm certainly not saying that makes him any less of a Marine, but my experience of being a military wife is probably a bit different than someone who's husband puts on the uniform every single day.

However, every July my Marine becomes an active duty Marine and disappears into Marine world, only to be seen after he is exhausted, sometimes hasn't showered in days, and well just plain wore out in every possible way. Not exactly my favorite of all Marine training, but I suppose it has to happen. Our nation's heroes have to train so they can protect us which means those of us with one of those heroes in our families have to make sacrifices.

And this year has been a harder sacrifice because of that tiny [or again not so tiny depending] person that lives in that yellow room. That little person - just to make it easier let's just call her A - adores my Marine. And as it turns out that same Marine adores A. He also happens to be really helpful when it comes to giving me a break from A in the evenings after work. But with the Marine of the house away training, I don't get a break. I get an upset, cranky baby who misses the Marine. She's mad at him for leaving (how can I tell? Well, he was home for a couple days and she wasn't not pleased with him - and again, how can I tell? She's my kid, I know her - enough said). She's going through separation and stranger anxieties. She's extra clingy to me (I miss my independent girl!). Not to mention I'm exhausted because I'm "on call" 24/7 without a break, plus I miss the Marine too.

So this year I'm not just a Marine wife. I'm a mom too. And I can honestly say I have a new respect for single parents - hats off to you, my friends.