Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Love Hate Relationship between Military Moms and the Military


Where do I start. You're proud of your child joining the Military, but then you hate them because they are taking your baby away and more than likely putting them in harms way. But then you see how much your child matures, and you love (maybe a strong word) the Military for making this change.

Then deployment comes and you hate the Military again. Well maybe that's a bit of a strong word. You agonize for a year or more of your child being in imminent danger and jump and run every time the phone rings. You check your cell phone numerous times a day to make sure it's on and you have cell reception and most importantly you did not miss a call. Of course the one and only phone call that matters. You rehearse in your head how you will exit a meeting in the event your child calls. You're not happy with the Military again for taking your child from home.

You finally receive a call from your child and because the Military doesn't operate in the same time zone as you, no matter where you are located, you hate the Military for having your child call at 2:30 a.m. on a workday. You love the Military for having the facilities to allow your child to call, but hate that everything the Military does seems to be before the rooster has awaken. I do remember asking my son doesn't the Army believe in at least starting after 6 a.m? Really, even that is early, for me at least, but it would be easier to take on a workday than 3 or so in the morning.

You get the call your child is coming home soon on leave and you love the Military again. You see your child you want to hear everything that he/she has gone through, the good, the bad, and the ugly. You take your child back to the airport and you hate the Military again for taking your child.

Now when your child completes his Service Time and his coming home for good, you love the Military yet again. You still read the articles about the Troops and what they are doing and you begin to miss the Military. You remind yourself about all of the sleepless nights you had worrying about your child and scared something bad may happen. You remember how much you hated that feeling and don't necessarily want your child back in that arena, but you love the Military still and all they have done. It's a family and a wonderful family of Military Moms. You miss that. The happy medium is you don't have to have your child in the Military because once a Military Mom, always a Military Mom. You don't have to leave the forums, you don't have to stop going to the meetings, because now you're a Vet Military Mom. Take a deep breath, this is the easiest part.

Now this was kind of the ride I've been on and while I didn't enjoy the deployments, I enjoyed the stories, well the good stories and the pictures. I found it all fascinating. Do I want to go back there, not at all. In some ways, it was an interesting ride.

Army Mom Out

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