Here is an article about the deployment of the New Jersey National Guard.

But it’s so much more than that. It’s an article about the things no one talks about: that being the one left at home is much harder than you think it’s going to be (no matter how independent you are); that the Deployment lasts longer than the year your spouse is gone and you will be dealing with its aftermath (on both sides) for many weeks/months once you’re back together; and that even knowing those first two things – it’s so hard to admit that things still aren’t going the way you thought they would!

After a year without Paul, there was a certain amount of patting myself on the back. (I did it! He’s home safe!) But I’m afraid my military-wife-work is far from finished. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish for more patience, more understanding, more strength… and I wonder if there are other wives out there who feel like they have already given everything they have to give.

My favorite quote is from a NJ Guard spouse who is dealing with a problem with the plumber while her husband is gone:
“Listen, I know it’s a little thing, but there have been too many little things. What I really, really want is my husband back.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself. And let me add – at the risk of sounding ungrateful – what I really, really want now is my pre-deployment husband back.