Military Bride's Fiancé is back from Afghanistan!
When I first started blogging, I was trying to find other women in the same situation as me, and happened upon Erika's blog, Military Bride. We are both young, and unexperienced in the whole military lifestyle, not to mention the realities of a deployment. And our respective significant others were on the same rotation to Afghanistan.
I always found it comforting to read her posts about the trials and tribulations of her deployment experience. And finally yesterday, she was going to be reunited with Matt.
However, before she left, she wrote a beautiful post summing up the past 14 months of her life. There was a part that resonated very strongly with me:
But I also have an enormous amount of good I'm taking away from this deployment.[...]
A subject often approached by those just ending a deployment is that of whether or not it was "worth it" - if I could go back in time and have Matt not be deployed, would I? I don't know. It's tough to say what course the year would've taken if Matt and I hadn't had to overcome this obstacle. [...]
I am thankful to the deployment for what it's taught me about myself, for the patience and understanding it's given me, and for what it's done for mine and Matt's relationship. At the beginning of a deployment the thought of spending such an extended amount of time away from the most important person in your life is so horrifying, it's tough to immediately identify what good will come of it.
Looking back over the past year of our lives, I think it's been a blessing in disguise. It gave me the opportunity to prove to Matt how much I truly do love him. It's helped our relationship to flourish and grow in a way it wouldn't have if we'd spent every day of the last year together. It taught us to be independent and that we can always rely on each other "for better, for worse."
I could not have put it better. Now that I am basking in post-redeployment warmth and happiness, I can only say whole heartedly say, it was worth it. A thousand times over. I honestly don't think that we would be where we are today in our relationship, had we not have surmounted this challenge together. And although draining, and oftentimes traumatic, it was so rewarding.
And Erika, I can hardly wait to see your reunion pics!
(The homecoming was covered by the Las Vegas Sun.)
I always found it comforting to read her posts about the trials and tribulations of her deployment experience. And finally yesterday, she was going to be reunited with Matt.
However, before she left, she wrote a beautiful post summing up the past 14 months of her life. There was a part that resonated very strongly with me:
But I also have an enormous amount of good I'm taking away from this deployment.[...]
A subject often approached by those just ending a deployment is that of whether or not it was "worth it" - if I could go back in time and have Matt not be deployed, would I? I don't know. It's tough to say what course the year would've taken if Matt and I hadn't had to overcome this obstacle. [...]
I am thankful to the deployment for what it's taught me about myself, for the patience and understanding it's given me, and for what it's done for mine and Matt's relationship. At the beginning of a deployment the thought of spending such an extended amount of time away from the most important person in your life is so horrifying, it's tough to immediately identify what good will come of it.
Looking back over the past year of our lives, I think it's been a blessing in disguise. It gave me the opportunity to prove to Matt how much I truly do love him. It's helped our relationship to flourish and grow in a way it wouldn't have if we'd spent every day of the last year together. It taught us to be independent and that we can always rely on each other "for better, for worse."
I could not have put it better. Now that I am basking in post-redeployment warmth and happiness, I can only say whole heartedly say, it was worth it. A thousand times over. I honestly don't think that we would be where we are today in our relationship, had we not have surmounted this challenge together. And although draining, and oftentimes traumatic, it was so rewarding.
And Erika, I can hardly wait to see your reunion pics!
(The homecoming was covered by the Las Vegas Sun.)
posted by CaliValleyGirl at 9:37 AM
2 Comments:
Okay so I have "Extreme Home Makeovers" on the TV, which is always a total tear-jerker and I am simultaneously reading this post...how sweet...sniff, sniff :)
Being human means there are a lifetime of challenges in front of all of us. How you approach them is the difference between being happy or miserable. You two have chosen happiness (I'm not surprised *grin*).
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