Stephen and I were invited to a beautiful wedding this past Saturday to watch friends of ours begin their wonderful journey together. Lots of fun dancing and hanging out with family and friends. It was really neat to take part in a wedding so soon after we had just had our own special day.
Except that I had to go without my husband.
Stephen is away at his required two-week summer training for the National Guard in some camp/fort/base in/near Paso Robles.* He was really bummed that he had to miss the wedding. Worse, he’s really bummed that he had to leave at all, and so am I.
In the past, we have had periods of time—periods much longer than two weeks—apart, but this time just feels different. When he was in Iraq, every day that passed where we didn’t get a chance to talk (he was very busy) was another stress-filled, “Is everything OK?”–type of day. I definitely don’t want those days back, and I certainly don’t wish that stress on any other military girlfriends/wives. Now, when I don’t hear from Stephen one day, I know that it just means that he has (wisely) chosen to get some sleep (before he has to wake up at 4 a.m., again).
This two-week leave of absence is, of course, much less stressful, but it is still kinda difficult for us both. I don’t mean to be whiney. Being newlyweds, we are still getting used to enjoying the brand new experiences marriage brings (“What do you mean our PG&E payment was a week late?”). We are truly loving the opportunity to begin learning about each other as spouses, and beginning to work as a team. It just isn’t easy to do all of that if only one of you comes home every night.
We love each other, so any long term time apart is not preferential. We know we’re not the first to deal with the other being far away for any period of time. I am keeping myself busy, but what else should I do to keep from going crazy in my quiet apartment while I wait for Saturday?
*This is not a National Security decoy; I really just don’t know where he is.
P.S. Hi Hon! (Stephen occasionally has 3 minutes of personal time to skim through the latest blog)
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