There’s nothing like an inconveniently scheduled field exercise to put a rumple in our plans for the baby’s arrival.
The old plan was a nice, simple, traditional one. The new plan includes calls to the Red Cross and a flight to Georgia for my mom so I’m not alone when our daughter decides to make her appearance.
I took this to be just another reminder that life in the military simply is not the same as civilian life. But it wasn’t long before I was reminded that the birthing process rarely goes as planned for anyone.
When I was born, my dad was at a police academy and only was able to come home briefly before returning.
Businessmen often are traveling when their children are born, and civil servants like firefighters, police officers and emergency medical professionals often are forced to miss important events in their children’s lives because of the nature of their work.
Yes, being a military spouse definitely is challenging. And yes, what our soldiers give up to serve their country is amazing.
Unfortunately, it seems we occasionally may forget that we’re not the only ones who have problems. People of all lifestyles face surprises that send their worlds spinning backward.
Everyone faces trials in their lives. Separating ourselves into a category where we pretend our problems are somehow more difficult than those of others makes us more likely to give into negative tendencies like self-pity.
Yes, life as a military spouse is difficult. Yes, life as a soldier is difficult. But life in general is difficult, too.
We can do more for ourselves by using our experiences to relate to those outside of our military circle than by using it to alienate ourselves further.