One Day at a Time

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Being part of a military family means everyone makes a sacrifice and let me tell you, it isn’t easy. I thought I understood this perfectly until Stephen got the call. And suddenly we were scrambling and I felt like my world was whirling because the date for his deployment jumped forward three months earlier than what we had expected. I kissed my Sailor good bye and promised him that this would be over before we knew it. 

And so there I was armed with this carefully managed optimism. But the idea that this wouldn’t be too bad kind of went out the window immediately. And if not for our incredible love and strength and the  support of friends and family I probably wouldn’t be handling this half as well. In fact, I’d probably be a total hot mess. 

This is my first time of being on this side of a deployment scenario and all I can say is that is a perspective-changer. Because I get it now. I understand the silence so much better, the frustration of not knowing what’s going on, of missing his hugs and his laughter. But even with the heartache, you have a life that needs to be lived. So you stick your chin out, wipe away the tears and give your daughter—who looks so much like her daddy—a big ol’ hug and carry on like that clichéd poster says to do.

Keep calm, mama. And oh yeah, carry on.