For the most part, milspouse life is pretty great.
There’s new adventures, great people, lessons to learn, places to see, things to do… But of course, it’s not all roses, sunshine, and puppy dog tails.
In my personal opinion, one of the most uncool parts of the Army wife life are those pesky see-ya-laters that crop up when facing a TDY or deployment.
Just a few days ago, I had to conquer yet another see-ya-later with my Beloved Infantryman.
Gross, I know. #LeSigh
Unlike previous see-ya-laters (because I refuse to say “goodbye”), this one was different. Because we now have two tiny humans who are part of the equation.
Military see-ya-laters are just so weird. A few of my wife friends in the battalion liken it to pulling off a band-aid. Naturally, the preferred method is to yank and go, then deal with the sting later. (And boy-oh-boy does a deployment band-aid-ripping-see-ya-later sting! #Medic!)
So when we said our final see-ya-later, I caught my breath and tried(ish) to stop the tears from flowing. (Side note: there is a big difference between water-RESISTANT and water-PROOF mascara. Water-resistant mascara is no match for deployment tears, just FYI). I climbed in the car as my Beloved walked away. That empty ache planted itself in my heart.
It felt like a bowling ball was in the pit of my stomach and a tennis ball was wedged in my throat. (I knew there was a reason I didn’t like sports.)
Yep. It was that all-too-familiar feeling I like to call “Deja Blue,” the reoccurring (temporary) bummed-out feeling when you say another “see-ya-later” to your spouse.
The Deja Blue feeling didn’t stop there, my friends. Go ahead and jump over to Army Wife Network to read the rest of our see-ya-later experience.
