To Those Left Behind (To the Wives)

One of the under-appreciated heroes of any Deployment are the wives (and husbands) left behind.

I know I have missed a number of momentous events so far (births of friends first kids, a number of weddings, and ordinary married life).

There are certainly a lot of sacrifices with being over here, but as my Commander and I discussed one morning, those same sacrifices (and sometimes greater) are made on the home-front. Besides the obvious that those moments are celebrated, enjoyed, lived without one's wife or husband; the absence of that spouse is keenly felt.

My Commander said (what follows is a paraphrase): “I think in some ways the deployment is harder ON me (missing the kids and those moments), but I think it is harder FOR her (referring to his wife having to handle the home-front herself without that assistance)”.

I found that a really wise distinction and probably quite true. All those brave women (and men) on the home-front, THANK YOU.