The worst part...

The worst part of being a military wife is the separations.  They come up on your all too quickly and always seem to last all too long. 

From time to time I hear people say something about their spouse being gone for a few days or even just being at work for the day and them talking about how much they miss them.  In the back of my mind, my thoughts wander to the fact that I have to remember that the majority of people will never know what it's like to say 'half my heart is in Iraq/Afghanistan(or one of many places our service members have been deployed to over the years)'.  They don't know what it is like to do without or to fall asleep nightly to one half of your bed being cold and empty.

I was talking to my mom a few months back and she had come up for Halloween.  She made the comment that this was the first Halloween that her and my dad hadn't been together.  I sat there thinking and it was the first one my husband and I had spent together.  I told her that and she instantly felt bad, but I wasn't upset about it.  We chose this life. 

Don't get me wrong, just because we may have chose this life doesn't mean that there aren't times that just plain suck and times that all you want is your husband to be there.  And it never fails, as soon as he leaves is when the car breaks down or you manage to bust a hole in the wall or you have a bad medical issue - I could go on and on...  but that's another thing that makes military wives a little different, the military may classify us as dependents, but I've never met a group of more independent woman who find themselves filling more roles than they normally can count and are proficient in the most random things that as one point or another is a skill they picked up along their journey.

So yes, the worst part is when those duffle bags are unpacked and they are getting ready to head somewhere whether it is for a day, month or a year - but when you are reunited and get to have that first kiss all over again - well, we wouldn't have it any other way.