The Navy Wife

Holy two blog re-vamps in one week! Granted...I know they look similar, I really liked the first one I had going, but with the change of my blog title I needed a new header and from there a new color scheme. I'm still not COMPLETELY satisfied with this header sooooo...I'll probably change it again in the very near future, but at least this one gets the new title out there so I feel like I can start posting again. :)

I wanted to thank KK, Amber, and Stacie for the new title ideas!! You guys really helped me get my creative juices flowing, and I REALLY appreciate it!! Coming up with a blog title that is interesting and you hope somehow draws people in is some hard business! But now I know who to go to when I need a little help! Thanks again girls!

So...I was searching through military blogs again ( no shocker there! :)) and I can't remember the name of the blog, so please forgive me for this, but I came across one that had two poems/ stories about what being a military wife means. I'd already seen one of them; " Recipe for a Military Wife" as I'm sure most of you others have also. And that reminded of something I was given just before the Hubs and I got married.

I was living in Utah at the time, and going to my parents Ward, and a new family moved onto our street and started going to our ward also. Well, they happened to be newly retired from the the Navy, and when the wife heard that I was marrying a Sailor she made a point to give me these two poems, one entitled " Recipe of Military Wife" and the other entitled " The Navy Wife". She also almost kind of...gave her 'condolences" about me marrying a Sailor which...at the time I found kind of interesting, but now I completely understand!! I find myself discouraging my single friends from dating Sailors here ( not that there are ANY other eligible males to date in this military town!) just because...it really is such a challenge, and unless your a child from a military family, I think you really don't understand what life married so someone in the military is like.

ANYWAY...I ramble :) I wanted to put the poem on here to share, because now having been in the Navy for a couple of years, the poem means more to me then when she first gave it. So, here it is, hope you enjoy!!

The Navy Wife

A Navy Wife is no ordinary women. Operating for months at a tim without the compainionship or assistance of her husband, she routinely overcomes challenges that would give the average person a nervous breakdown.

Part Doctor, part Teacher and part Handyman,she can lavish loving care on a sick toddler, help a teenager with his algrebra homework, and trackdown a faulty circuit breaker-- all while holding down a full time job.

With thirty minutes notice, she can serve breakfast, lunch , or dinner to fourteen hungry Sailors, and still somehow balance her family's meager grocery budget.

She can press a set of dress whites to inspection standards, tie a perfect square knot in a military neckerchief, and pack a seabag in the cold hours before dawn.

For months at a time, she must settle for letters instead of kisses, emails in place of hugs, and long-distance phone calls in lieu of her husbands touch. She manages a smile when her Sailor is at sea for the second anniversary in a row, and accepts the fact that there's a one-in-three chance that he will have to stand duty on her birthday. She has learned to stand on a pier and say goodbye without tears, even when her heart is breaking.

To her children sher is chauffuer, umpire, psychologist, spiritual advisor, finacial consultant, part-time father, Tooth Fairy, Santa Clause, and the Easter Bunny. To her husband she is friend, lover, partner, confidant, and soul-mate.

She is a patriot. She is the sort of citizen that all of us should be, but so few of us are. She lives with sacrifice, because she believe in the rights and ideals that her husband defends. Although she wears no uniform. she is a part of that defense-- a vital link in the chain of Freedom. Although she wears no medals and will reap no glory on the field of battle, she is a hero in the truest sense of the word.

She is a Navy Wife.

until next time,