A Christmas Story

Its a quick and speedy process to join the military. Sign the dotted line and you are theirs. They own you..heck, you can get a article 15 if you get sunburned. You are government property. After serving eight or so years being a soldier, husband and a Dad its starting to weigh heavy on my Son. Not just from his loss(of his own Dad) but the stress of having to keep up his household, take care of and maintain a happy environment for his children, And his life with a wife that is ill most of the time..has caused him to lose his way. Everything he has worked so hard for in his military career has washed down the drain. Has been taken from him. To me, I think when you marry a man that is enlisted you have to be a supportive wife, a woman of great strength because of the way you are living. Alone, a lot of times because of deployments. Second most important because, the military comes first and foremost. This is the price you have to pay. You should know this before ever marrying a man/woman in the AF,ARMY,NAVY,MARINES. If you are not willing to pull your weight, stand by your spouse; be the leader of the household while he/she is off being a soldier then you better think twice. It’s not all a bed of roses. It’s hard work and dedication. There has to be a lot of love, understanding and perseverance in your relationship to survive or, the hard work and dedication is all in vain. I have told you all this because this is what my Son has endured for the past several years. Now he can add a few other things. The loss of the man he so dearly loved. He knew his Mom and family members were proud of him for all his accomplishments but so much wanted his Dad to see he had become the man, the husband and the Dad he told him he would be. Christmas of 2007 my son was here. He got to spend a wonderful Christmas with all his family. Something he had not been able to do since he enlisted. He would always be deployed on Thanksgiving or Christmas and most of the time his kids birthdays too. He missed so much but never complained, he always had his gear ready at the door for that next order from command. It would be just a quick goodbye, hugs and kisses to the kids and away he would go. But, this Christmas was special. He spent it with his Dad and his dad’s girlfriend. He had the big Christmas with his Dads family. Like he remembered as a child. He and his Dad talked and made a lot of mends. Got their Father and Son relationship back on track. He told me that he had the best Christmas that year. He would forever hold those memories in his heart. I think his Dad, his Grandmother, Aunt, Uncle and Cousins had a special Christmas that year for a reason. This is just the way it worked out. My sons wife was sick, had came to Alabama to stay with her parents because the kids were here while she was recovering from surgery. Was it all perfect timing or was it Gods handy work…I want to think It was God. He knows everything.
He make this special time happen for a reason. If you have read these post I am sure you will understand why I say..It was all for a special reason….
God is working in us every second, every minute, every hour, very day and every breath we take. Keep the Faith…

Amen to that sister! God is good to us even when we don’t feel God is. I try to praise him even through chemotherapy and my tears, and that’s not always easy. But life keeps me praying and so does the chemotherapy.

I hope and pray that you and your son and his family will feel better as time goes by.

Love, hugs and prayers,

sweete2

Posted on October 26, 2008 at 12:28:05 PM by Ethel Craven-Sweet