Morning Walk

Well another day closer to Al coming home!!!!

It is a beautiful morning, cool and slightly overcast, that California June Gloom in May......I have just taken Jess for a long walk around our base housing area, always fun as you get to chat with folks you haven't seen for a while, watch out for rabbits, squirrels and the occasional rattlesnake and take in the sites and sounds.

So many of the families have Marines away, it is a surprise to see a man around! These are amazing women and the more you learn about them the more you admire their sacrifice. Not only have most given up promising careers to follow their Marines from base to base and sometimes from country to country, but they always have a smile on their face and an encouraging word to help get their neighbors through.
For example just on my street we have one mum (don't get upset that is how it is spelt in Australia) that has a PHD and 3 Masters, another finishes her Masters degree in two weeks and she has a new baby and a 3 year old, is a KVC (Key Volunteer Coordinator and now the Club President. Another wife has 4 wonderful kids in a 3 bedroom home, a degree in Special Education and is a KVA. Others home school! With all their other commitments they all still have time to volunteer, take kids to sports, help friends and support their spouse. Ok, so they are not superhuman and their are mums in the civilian world with hectic schedules as well, but they don't lay their head on their pillow every night and pray that their husband is not in harms way, that he will email them soon, or perhaps call and that he stays safe until he comes home.

A friend recently was faced by the loss of Marine in her husbands unit. She visited the family, taking groceries, playing games with the children and providing support, all the while she said she was shaking inside and wondering how she would hold it together. We watch our friends do these amazing things, knowing that in all our hearts we have the same fears and dare not speak about the unthinkable.

These women are so strong, resilient and supportive. But I sometimes wonder at what cost, sometimes the carers need a little care as well.

Mrs Robinson Not

Busy week, busy day. LA on business, back to the commissary to get ready for our Wednesday night "Wives with Husbands In Iraq" BBQ. I drove Alec's car up to LA, wow I love speed....don't tell him that! Arrived back at the Commissary and there was a car wash, the Marines hold a lot of these to raise funds for their Units, so I thought why not support the Marines and save myself a job. For the first time in ages I was dressed in something other than mummy clothes, had makeup and cute shoes, always a plus. How can a lady drive by 20, twenty something Marines in shorts and singlet shirts and not get her car washed. I must admit that they were playing their music a little loud and I am not sure the band was alive when I went to high school, but it was worth the $20.00 I paid out....yes, I was overcome by the moment and decided to shell out $20.00. In hindsight I was a little loose with my cash but it was worth watching 10 Marines wash my Husbands car.......who was I to tell them it wasn't mine.........and the song as I drove away, Tequila Makes the Clothes Come Off.....couldn't tell you the band on that one.

Some of the wives on my street said that by the end of 7 months even our gardeners will look cute...not sure on that one but I will probably have my car washed at least once more before Al comes home, just for the fun of it. Come on even us older chicks need to do a little window shopping from time-to-time.

Has it been 3 months?

So much for good intentions! I had promised myself I would start this blog the day Alec left for that place in the sand, but between work, home and the busy schedule I have set to keep our minds busy I have just not started.

Deployments, where to start! I must admit that I do get a little angry at politicians who seem to talk about deployments with such detachment. As a Marine wife we face 7 month or 1 year deployments, at present. My heart breaks for the wife of an army spouse and the amount of time they are away.

The day that Alec left I was driving home from their departure site at 5:30am, the sun was rising and I was looking off the base towards homes just outside the base gate. I must admit I felt angry that the biggest decision most of those folks had for the day was if they would stop at Starbucks for coffee or not and here I was sending my husband off to war! I am over that now but still wonder if most American's even notice the sacrifice being made, it is so easy to change the channel.