Many wives of sailors start their orders in Japan thinking that separation will be more simple. Easier. Because we're already overseas. It becomes disappointing when husbands are gone more sporadically and often than Stateside duty stations. Gone, here, busy, not. Overseas stations require constant adjustment. To an empty house, to single parenthood, and then to undoing it, allowing your husband back in where you had filled the holes yourself. To inspections that require 14 or 15 hour days. And then on to the next deployment. The goal becomes about distractions and filling time.
I'm experiencing my first deployment. It's not long, and I feel good about the "training" for the future. I'll be more prepared for the longer ones. I live off-base but close. In an area with coffee shops, malls, busy-ness, and lots of lights. There's presence here. So I'm blessed. I can escape my empty house. Often the case for off-base living is endless Japanese residential area. Isolation. Quiet. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to endure deployments this way. Especially if you don't work.
So pray for your military wives today. The military cares for us as much as it can. Still, we sacrifice a great deal. Most days it's worth it; we have the strength of body builders. But we can always use more support.
Thanks.
