The Difference

Over the years, I've talked a lot about military spouses...how
special they are and the price they pay for freedom too. The funny
thing about it, is most military spouses don't consider themselves
different from other spouses. They do what they have to do, bound
together not by blood or merely friendship, but with a shared spirit
whose origin is in the very essence of what love truly is. Is there
truly a difference? I think there is. You have to decide for yourself.

Other spouses get married and look forward to building equity in a
home and putting down family roots. Military spouses get married and
know they'll live in base housing or rent, and their roots must be
short so they can be transplanted frequently.

Other spouses decorate a home ! ! with flair and personality that
will last a lifetime. Military spouses decorate a home with flare
tempered with the knowledge that no two base houses have the same
size windows or same size rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and
multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle pieces.

Other spouses have living rooms that are immaculate and seldom used.
Military spouses have immaculate living room/dining room combos. The
coffee table got a scratch or two moving from Germany, but it still
looks pretty good.

Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business trip and
know they won't see them for a week. They are lonely, but can
survive.Military spouses say good-bye to their deploying spouse and
know they won't see them for months, or for a remote, a year. They
are lonely, but will survive.

Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag and then
write a check out for getting the hose reconnected. Military spouses
will cut the water off and fix it themselves.

Other spouses get used to saying "hello" to friends they see all the
time. Military spouses get used to saying "good-bye" to friends made
the last two years.

Other spouses worry about whether their child will be class president
next year. Military spouses worry about whether their child will be
accepted in yet another new school next year and whether that school
will be the worst in the city...again.

Other spouses can count on spouse participation in special
events...birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football games,
graduation, and even the birth of a child. Military spouses only
count on each other; because they realize that the Flag has to come
first if freedom is to survive. It has to be that way.

Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are imperiled
across the globe and take them down when the troop' s come home.
Military spouses wear yellow ribbons around their hearts and they
never go away.

Other spouses worry about being late for mom's Thanksgiving dinner.
Military spouses worry about getting back from Japan in time for
dad's funeral.

And other spouses are touched by the television program showing an
elderly lady putting a card down in front of a long, black wall that
has names on it. The card simply says "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.
You would have been sixty today." A military spouse is the lady with
the card. And the wall is the Vietnam Memorial.

I would never say military spouses are better or worse than other
spouses are. But I will say there is a difference. And I will say
that our country asks more of military spouses than is asked of other
spouses. And I will say, without hesitation, that military spouses
pay just as high a price for freedom as do their active duty husbands
or wives. Perhaps the price they pay is even higher. Dying in service
to our country isn't near as hard as loving someone who has died in
service to our country, and having to live without them.

God bless our military spouses for all they freely give. And God
bless America.

By Colonel Steven Arrington
17th Training Wing vice commander
Goodfellow AFB
San Angelo, Texas
 
 

<BGSOUND SRC="becauseyoulovedme.mid">

Graphics Courtesy of: