Navy life

Caleb is home after about a month away. Only a month. "Only" is the word we Navy wives use to convince ourselves that month-long separations from your spouse are normal. "Only" means we don't complain because at least it's not a deployment...yet. "Only" means the other Navy wives don't need to bring us dinner, watch our kids, check in on our sanity. If we can't handle a month, we won't make it. That's the painful reality of this life. Everyone has to buck up.

So we do. We say "only." We smile. We carry on like normal. We re-read the email until it's memorized because it's the only contact we'll have all week. Then we read it again. We stay up too late and make the mistake of watching the news. We take the kids to the drive-thru because Lord-help-me-if-I-have-to-hear-one-more-time-that-they-don't-like-this-dinner. We turn on the TV for the same reason. And then we check our email again.

But, today, he's home. He did the dishes and put the kids to bed and life is normal and happy. The kids and I played at the beach all morning and watched his ship on the horizon as it inched closer and closer to base. We went home and waited and he was finally here. The three of us followed him around like puppies all afternoon and couldn't stop smiling. Tonight is peace and happiness and relaxation. It's a new month and life is good. We will bask in the home time. Until next time.