My Boyfriend's Commander
The hardest part about my boyfriend’s deployment is the lack of communication. I don’t have my boyfriend on tap anymore: I can’t just pick up the phone and call him. Communicating with him has become a game of luck and time: i.e. being online when he’s online, or emails when he has the chance.
Now we are still in the infancy of the deployment. My boyfriend hasn’t been gone two weeks yet, but I can honestly say that things aren’t that bad. You know why? Because my boyfriend’s commander writes an email to the FRG (Family Readiness Group) every day, which gets forwarded to the soldiers’ family members.
That’s right. Every. Single. Day.
I’ll be the first to admit that hearing what they had for lunch and breakfast each and every day, and how the weather was, gets a little boring fast. But it’s a daily sign of life. He also writes 2-3 short paragraphs about what the unit is up to within limits (if it doesn’t breech operational security). And he will mention the name of one person in the unit, and what they did that day; I guess over the course of the deployment he will eventually cycle through everyone.
So, even if I wish I could hear more often from my boyfriend, there is immense comfort in the routine of the commander’s daily message. It’s so smart, because if the families are more relaxed, there is going to be less pressure on the soldiers, because they know that their families are hearing from someone, even if it isn’t from them.
When I do have the occasion to chat with him, I already kind of know what his daily regimen is, I know what his surroundings are like, and I know that they had pot roast and cookies for lunch. So, at least that is covered, and we can focus on more important things, i.e. ME and how much he misses ME. Okay, that’s wishful thinking, we usually end up talking about nothing and everything…well, like our everyday conversations. And that is just fine with me!
So, I would like to thank my boyfriend's commander, and his contribution to helping retain some semblance of routine and everyday life, even though a deployment is neither.
Now we are still in the infancy of the deployment. My boyfriend hasn’t been gone two weeks yet, but I can honestly say that things aren’t that bad. You know why? Because my boyfriend’s commander writes an email to the FRG (Family Readiness Group) every day, which gets forwarded to the soldiers’ family members.
That’s right. Every. Single. Day.
I’ll be the first to admit that hearing what they had for lunch and breakfast each and every day, and how the weather was, gets a little boring fast. But it’s a daily sign of life. He also writes 2-3 short paragraphs about what the unit is up to within limits (if it doesn’t breech operational security). And he will mention the name of one person in the unit, and what they did that day; I guess over the course of the deployment he will eventually cycle through everyone.
So, even if I wish I could hear more often from my boyfriend, there is immense comfort in the routine of the commander’s daily message. It’s so smart, because if the families are more relaxed, there is going to be less pressure on the soldiers, because they know that their families are hearing from someone, even if it isn’t from them.
When I do have the occasion to chat with him, I already kind of know what his daily regimen is, I know what his surroundings are like, and I know that they had pot roast and cookies for lunch. So, at least that is covered, and we can focus on more important things, i.e. ME and how much he misses ME. Okay, that’s wishful thinking, we usually end up talking about nothing and everything…well, like our everyday conversations. And that is just fine with me!
So, I would like to thank my boyfriend's commander, and his contribution to helping retain some semblance of routine and everyday life, even though a deployment is neither.
posted by CaliValleyGirl at 9:59 PM
1 Comments:
Wow, every day? We got an email from the commander once a month...
That's good that you know the day-to-day happenings; that's the one thing I wish I had known. I can't wait for my husband to get home so I can ask him what his room looked like or what he did each day. I'm ready for the mundane stories!
Sarah
tryingtogrok.com
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