Bakersfield.com

All > The war in Iraq
Waiting for His Return
Topics:
Posted by militarywife Fri Jul 11, 2008 08:10:18 PDT
Viewed 151 times
0 responses 2 comments

My birthday is July12. But my husband won’t be here to celebrate it with me. He wasn’t with me last year (he was in Louisiana for training instead). And next year he will still be deployed to Iraq. But if all goes well, come July 12, 2010 there is a good possibility we’ll be together for my birthday.

Welcome to the life of a military spouse.

I did not enlist, and I was not commissioned, but on May 1, 2004 – the day I married my husband -- I officially joined the Army as a “military spouse.”  

Since that day, I have moved from California to Alabama, to Hawaii, then on to Alaska and now back to California.  Yes, that is a lot of packing, unpacking, address changes, telephone changes, renting a house, buying a house, selling a house (the list goes on and on). For me however, it is the chance to live someplace new and exciting (and sometimes interesting – I could go on for days about the winter in Alaska) and, of course, meeting a ton of new friends along the way.

In fact, it was just a few weeks ago that I found myself saying goodbye to my latest friends, packing up my “household goods,” and filling out a change of address card at the Post Office (which by the way I’m getting to be a real pro at). The moment I had been dreading for quite some time had finally approached – my husband’s unit had received orders to report to Iraq.

After much deliberation, my husband and I decided it would be best for me, and our 15-month-old daughter, to return to my hometown of Bakersfield and stay with my parents while he is deployed. So, instead of enjoying the crisp 68 degree summer days of Alaska (which is a real “heat wave” for the locals) I find myself  “enjoying” the scorching hot 108 degree summer days of Bakersfield and reminding myself every minute that it was my choice to come here.

Although it was my choice to be here in Bakersfield, it is not my choice to send my husband off on a 15-month deployment to Iraq. I may not agree with the war, I may not disagree with the war. But one this is for certain, I am a military spouse and I stand proudly beside my husband and support him in everything he does.   

And if it means missing my birthday so that he can defend the freedom of our country for the sake of all Americans and to secure a safe future for our children to grow up in, then so be it. We don’t have to spend my birthday together, this year, or next for that matter. The only true thing that matters most, is that he remains safe and successful in all that he does…and that he returns home once more.
 

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation

Comment From: MonicaMagdaleno

"The only true thing that matters most, is that he remains safe and successful in all that he does" wow! if that is not true love, I don't know what is.:) well I hope you have a wonderful birthday!=) God Bless You for your pure heart;) Comment From: princess2mysoldier

Happy Birthday, from one military wife to another. My husband just returned home from a year in Iraq. He left 4 months after we were married. We missed our birthdays together and all our "first" holidays as husband and wife, and it looks like he may be gone again, soon, so I understand how you feel. You show amazing strength, courage, and pride, and that is truely commendable.