Day 262: My Authority

03/10/2012

My husband and I have always joked about the fact that I "outrank" him. At the start of his military career, he told me that all civilians "outrank" him. So, of course, I asked if I outranked him... He said that I did, but jokingly said that I would whether he was in the military or not. It has been our little running joke since then, and every once in a while I will "pull rank" on him.

A few days ago was one of those times. He told me that his knee has been bothering him for a few months and it was getting worse. He didn't tell me for a while because he didn't want me to worry and because he knew I would want him to go see a doctor. He didn't want to be "broken" before he turns 30 and especially not before the deployment was done. I told him that if he didn't go to the doctor he would be broken because he let it go on too long and get worse. He told me he would go to the doctor the next day. Well, when I talked to him the next day, I asked if he went. He told me he didn't have time and said he would go tomorrow. So, when I talked to him the next day, he still hadn't gone.... So, I pulled rank. I told him it was an "order" from me to go to the doctor and get seen about his knee. At least they can give him and idea of what is going on and what he needs to do to try and make it better.  He fought me for a bit, but eventually, I won. The next day he told me the doctor thought it was just some strained tendons and that he would be ok if he took it "easy" and gave him an anti-inflammatory to help with the inflammation and pain. Not sure if it will completely help his knee, but it is a first step. If it gets better, then we know what it was and he addressed it. If it doesn't, then we know what it isn't and we can start going through the checklist to figure it out and get him back to being pain-free.

My husband can be stubborn, but he and everyone else knows that I can too. He knew that the only reason I "pulled rank" on him was because I love him and want him to take care of himself. I have told him many times that he has to take care of himself, because I am not there to take care of him. When he gets sick, I can't be there to help him feel better. When he is hurt, I am not there to force him to see a doctor. So, he has to take care of himself, and the same goes for me. He has had to pull rank on me too and tell me that I needed to go to the doctor a few times that I have been sick since he has been deployed. I went to the doctor when he asked because I knew he wanted me to take care of myself because he couldn't be here to help me. Plus, I knew he would worry, and I try to avoid that at all costs. It is what we do. We take care of each other, we worry about each other, and we push each other. We are in love, we are a team, we are the best of friends.

Loving that time is going by and my best friend is getting so much closer to coming home to me.