Military comes first!

After watching a video someone posted on Facebook, I was reminded that I have taken my life with my husband for granted. In March, we will be married for 5 years! He's military, which, for a lot of couples, means 2-3 years of that spent together. I am one of the few lucky spouses who can say I have spent those 5 years, minus a couple weeks here and there, with my husband.

The majority of the military goes through at least one deployment within their first couple of years on active duty. My husband has been in for almost 9 years and hasn't been deployed yet. He has tried, volunteering and even begging to go, just hasn't happened. Though, I know many spouses who are on their 2nd or 3rd deployment and haven't been married as long as we have. It's sad that I have taken this for granted, but I am glad to have been reminded.

Do I want my husband to deploy, not really. Do I know that it will help his career and happen eventually, yes. While I wouldn't want to see him leave, I know that it's going to happen at some point. I also know that it will help boost his career in the military. That's something a lot of people don't realize about being military. Without deployments or short tours (normally a 12-18 month assignment without family), their careers are normally capped at a certain point.

I hate hearing people who aren't military say "well, I had to be by myself for 2 whole weeks while my husband went to a conference". 2 weeks is nothing compared to the 6-12 months that spouses live without their husband's and wives are in a dangerous country. People who have never lived this life just don't understand it. It's hard, and lots of marriages end because of the separations and stress this lifestyle brings. Even not going through a deployment, this lifestyle is very stressful on families.

We move, we put our lives/careers on hold (not always but there are times these do suffer), we have to make new friends every couple of years, we cook dinners that don't get eaten, we do many things that other spouses don't do, and on a daily basis. The military comes first. Sometimes it can be hard to handle. But now that I have that reminder of how lucky I have been, I am going to stop taking this life for granted and take the opportunities I do have!