Oh. my. goodness.
Brandon and I watched two Army Wives shows in a row the other night.
And we cried.
That's right, WE.
One of the main characters DIED in combat.
And I think it brought back so many of the emotions we both had during the death of one of his best friends. And the way it affected me at home...with him having to shut me off and continue moving forward. Not to mention that it happened RIGHT when we were finding out about Briar.
Thinking about telling him about Briar while he was in the middle of a war zone.
Thinking of him losing his friend (our friend) in the midst of all of it.
It is overwhelming.
It is coming up on the one year anniversary of that time.
We still think about our friend all the time. Him, and all the rest that have been lost in our time there. Not to mention our injured friends.
Military wives/families deal with so much.
I have a girl in my class (I teach on a military post where all my students have at least one military parent) who has been breaking down a lot lately for no reason.
Upon further inspection, it turns out her dad is leaving soon.
Deploying. For a year.
That makes sense.
Of course she is sad!
No wonder it is coming out in a different way. How is she supposed to handle those feelings?
Brandon is not deploying at the moment, but he will be starting a more 'intense' job, where he is in the field for a week at a time..and that will be a change. A sad change.
But not the same as watching your husband go to war.
Many of my friends currently have husbands there.
With a VERY REAL risk.
That I like to minimize in my mind when he goes.
But nonetheless, it is real.
And scary.
And if you have no clue about anything military, that show will give you a peek into the world. It is occasionally cheesy, inaccurate, etc....but it has improved, and overall, I think it gives a good picture of the feelings that wives go through as their husbands are in the cycle of deployments, training and the very sparse moments at home.
Aw, sometimes I miss calling Brandon AG. Back when he was in such a secure job, his name on the blog had to be that...AG=Army Guy.
On another note...
At the moment, I am shaking in my boots, getting ready for KENTUCKY to play tonight.
Oh gosh, I'm nervous!!
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Hope you have a wonderful Saturday.
I'm a huge fan of Army Wives, but that episode was almost too much for me. My husband is in Afghanistan right now and it was just too too close to home. I appreciate though they did such a good/respectful job of showing what we all go through.
ReplyDeleteI grew up the child of a career Army soldier, and he did go to war and to several other long term deployments. I totally can relate to the little girl in your class that is breaking down, and to you as the wife of an "AG". And also to the loss of your friend while in Afganistan. I currently have a son who is career military with a wife and children. It is a hard life sometimes, and many people that have never been associated with military life just don't get it. The spouse left at home with the family is as much part of the military as the active duty and without them, our military men and women could not do what they sacrifice so much to do to help America stay free. All of us need to be reminded that freedom is not free. Brooke, I have been reading your blog for a while now and have cried with you and Brandon through the loss of Briar. I now rejoice and pray for you two in the new life you are carrying and your adoption of the Briar's brother in Ethiopia. I watch Army Wives and I cried last Sunday also, it is sometimes not realistic, but is as you say getting better in that area. At least it has brought some focus on the lives our military families live. Thanks for your insight Brooke and to you and Brandon I say thank you for your service to our country!
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