The Veteran's Wife

Yesterday in the US was Veteran's Day. My husband and son were dutifully up at 5:30 to go around the neighborhood and place flags in neighbors' yards as a fundraiser with the Boy Scouts. They do this about 6 times a year and round robin the duty so one patrol doesn't have the brunt of it all.

Later, our young neighbor boy brought over a card for my husband. Although this family wasn't in our neighborhood when my husband was called back on active duty, he still knew that Steve had served and felt it appropriate to honor him in this special way. I laughed, as he didn't know I too was in the military for 3 years.

In the afternoon talking to my sister, she asked me about a poem about the "Waiting Wife" if I knew about it or heard about it.( My sister suffers from some memory loss due to an event that put her in a coma for 6 weeks about 14 years ago.) She ended with the comment, "Maybe these are the first 2 lines of a poem I'm supposed to write about waiting wives." She should know! As a wife of 21 years to a military officer there were many deployments, Vietnam, Germany, Korea not to mention simple exercises that had her husband gone for weeks at a time.

As I am the youngest and she being the oldest, I would often go visit her to help her out while her husband was away. I guess this gave me a routine to visit when husband's are away. It seemed that I would always be visiting my family while my own husband was gone for some exercise or other. One particular visit, one of my young nephews asked me," Aunt Jane are you and Uncle Steve divorced?" I was shocked! What made him ask such a question? Then he explained, " I always hear about Uncle Steve, but I don't think I ever met him."

This made me ponder. Aren't I blessed that I can come visit my family while my husband is deployed? Many military wives do this: when hubby deploys they go home to their family. But many wives must stay where they are. This last deployment I didn't have the luxury to make too many visits with 5 kids in school and activities,a home to care for,and a business to grow.

Instead, the family in my community assisted me to cope during this trial. I remember the first Christmas one of the boys from our Boys Scout Troop and Parish came over to help put up Christmas lights. That same Christmas my cousin's friend's organization gave Christmas presents to families of deployed soldiers, and she recommended us. My kids were overwhelmed with wonderful gifts. There were many other examples that people helped, and for that, I will always be grateful. Unfortunately, I also know many wives who aren't supported while their husbands are away. They don't feel they fit in the community, no one seems to reach out and they feel isolated and alone.

Yes, it is a very good thing to thank our veterans and our active duty soldiers by making cards and sending them care packages. And when you do, please remember the wife who takes care of the home front. If there is some one in your neighborhood,your child's class or in your church who has a loved one currently depoyed, ask them over for dinner, make brownies for them, or offer to babysit so they can have a night with some friends. Because Veteran's Wives serve the country too!


For more information about Jane go to:
http://www.wealthyhomeschoolmom.com/