On the 10th Week of Deployment, Murphy Gave to Me…
Another Christmas during deployment. This will be the second Christmas he’s missed completely, but there was one where he left on Christmas Day.
My 6-year-old has had three Christmases where Daddy was either going or gone. I know we aren’t alone in that situation, but the logic of “other people are dealing with it too” is often lost on children when all they really want in front of the fireplace on Christmas morning is their deployed parent.
The first Christmas without him I skipped entirely and took the 5-month-old to Florida for a week with a friend from high school. But from then on, I realized they would notice if we skipped Christmas.
As someone who isn’t a huge fan of the holiday to begin with, I’ve learned that, while there isn’t necessarily magic in the holiday itself, there is definitely magic in routine.
This deployment has been hard on us in a different way than I expected. The girls don’t get to talk to my husband at all during the week because of the time difference, and on weekends, Skype is a fickle beast, as is his internet connection, so anything we can do to stay busy and stay on track has been a gift.
Somewhere along this military spouse life, I picked up the phrase “Deployment Bingo,” and while we’re only on week 10 of 52, I think I’m winning.
Or losing.
Not sure which is more accurate.
Broken appliances, a car accident, all three of us have had strep, two of us had allergic reactions to our antibiotics (including a trip to the ER for my 6-year-old when her face swelled up and she couldn’t stay awake), five classes this semester, a dog with separation anxiety, email hacks… I could go on and on.
I know they say that everything goes wrong during deployment, but I was kind of hoping we could spread it out over the whole deployment. I know, I’m probably jinxing myself.
So while I study for exams, I am thankful for my sleepy Semper Gumby (always flexible) children, who are snuggled up like a pile of kittens and doing their best to be the brightest spots in each day.
With Daddy gone and Mommy having a full-time job, it allowed us to sponsor a few families this Christmas as we talk about giving to others. They decorated the tree by themselves as I was finishing a presentation for class, but they were so proud of their work. It was a joy to send pictures of our Charlie Brown tree to my husband.
My 6-year-old is tall enough to get things out of the top part of the fridge, so she can get drinks for herself and her sister when we sit down for meals, and my 4-year-old is expanding her vocabulary by leaps and bounds as her speech therapy intensifies in preparation for kindergarten.
I feel like their dad being gone has allowed them new opportunities to blossom, like the image of the dandelion growing in the sidewalk crack that is often related to military children.
So, as we prepare for another Christmas without my husband, after finishing another Thanksgiving (including my birthday!), and finishing a semester, I cross another Saturday off the calendar and mentally count how many more there are until we reach the potential R&R window.
I know that even just a two-week reprieve will be refreshing for all of us (although emotionally tumultuous, I’m sure), and we just have to keep pressing along because that will be our real Christmas.
