As many families are out picking up Halloween costumes and trying to decide how they are going to decorate their pumpkins this year, others in our community are preparing to say goodbye to their soldiers for nine to 12 months.

While this is really nothing new to Bryan County, as our heroes have been deploying for 10 plus years since the beginning of the war, each time is poignant and offers a new opportunity to wish our soldiers fare-thee-well and support those family members left behind in what is surely a very trying time.

When a soldier deploys they are not only performing the duties that they have been spending weeks upon months training for — they are also defending the freedoms of this country while the spouse and loved ones are left behind to continue on.

What a lot of people forget is that just because a soldier is deployed there are still household tasks and responsibilities that must be performed. Bills still have to be paid, children still have to get to and from school, houses still have to be cleaned, careers still call, dinners still have to be cooked— life still goes on here even with the gap that soldier leaves behind.

The loved ones left behind do not sign up for a lifestyle that includes living without their other half. However, they take it on because they respect and support the man or woman they love.

Some words of advice from a soldier and military spouse would be to sympathize because saying something like “I know how you feel my spouse was gone for a week for a business trip” may end up offending instead. Be yourself, be genuine, and if you do not have anything to say, just simply thank the person for their sacrifices.

Monica Eusebio is the public information assistant for Southeast Georgia Friends of Fort Stewart and Hunter.