There is no moment more fitting to express love through saying “Thank You” than this romantic time of year. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
‘Tis the season for showing love, whether you are fortunate enough to have your wife home or not. No matter what you decide to do or get, we all show our love, appreciation and thanks to our female active duty service member in our own special way.
For those of us who are military spouses, we don’t need a special day to remind us to show we are thankful for the path they have chosen. We do it all year long. Deployments don’t just begin or end at a prescribed time of year. They happen all the time. Holiday and other celebrations might happen months before or after the actual day to accommodate the whole family being together.
We adapt and overcome and what others might think is odd; we think it is normal. Growing up with two parents and lots of friends in the medical field, we would shift around Thanksgiving dinner to accommodate everyone’s work schedule. So, this is something that I am used to already.
Having a spouse who has been active duty Navy for the past five, going on six years now, I have developed some new ways to show her my thanks and appreciation for her service and sacrifice. It ranges from rolling the sleeves on her NWUs to sending her to a masseuse for an hour because she had a busy week in the OR while simultaneously meeting the demands for school. I have had to drop everything and run to the base to get something for her uniform.
I have learned how to pin ribbons on. The trick is to not iron the shirt so much you can’t find the holes! I have met her halfway with her workout clothes so she can get in some bar therapy and workout for an hour. I prep all her things she will need in the morning for breakfast when she wakes up at 0300 after getting home at 2030 the night before. Whatever she needs at that moment, no matter how much she might think it’ll throw a wrench in my day, it’s always accepted, met and I tell her “no problem.” We make it work.
