Thursday, November 10, 2011

Day 141: My Big Army Family

There is one thing I can say about the Army. It has given me a bigger extended family than I could have ever hoped for. I have a family even when I am away from my biological family. It is the biggest blessing in this lifestyle. My Army family, made up of soldiers, their wives, parents, and kids, are my support system and I am theirs. It is how we all make it through everything the Army throws at us, deployments, trainings, PCSing (moving), with our sanity still intact.... mostly.

We all get it. We know what it is like to be away from your family, but still needing the support of one. Today, my best friend here was scheduled to have her baby today via c-section. I told her I would help her out but all she could say was that my husband was home and she didn't want to interrupt our time together. I get that, but the problem is, that we are family. We are here for each other no matter what. Ian expected nothing less than for me to be there for my friend. It gave him a chance to spend some one-on-one time with the kids while I helped out a friend. I know my time with Ian right now is limited, but my other family needs me (well us really) too. My husband and I want to be there for this family if we are able, and today we were able. Some people think I am crazy to "waste" a day with my husband, but I don't see it as that. I see it as allowing my husband time to reconnect with the kids without me there to act as the go-between. I also see it as being who I am and showing that to my husband. I am a supporter, I support people. My husband knows that about me and loves me for it. He is the most important man in my life and I would not have gone if he was completely against it, but, again, he agreed that is was important that I went today and encouraged me to go. He called me a few times today to check in and see how things were going, and even came and waited with me for a while, so it wasn't a whole day spent away from him. We were still together throughout the day via either phone or in person. Then, I came home and spent the rest of the evening with him.

I know a lot of people think at the end of this R&R I will regret any time I did not spend with my husband when he was home. I know different. I know that I will be happy for the time we have spent together and will not regret the time I spent helping out one of my best friends while my husband spent time with his own kids. I think what I would regret was not being there for a friend when she needed me.

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