Spouse Night

Tonight was the December Social for the spouses here in Abilene. It was a cookie/ornament exchange party. My friend Donna and I debated on whether or not to go. We have only met a few of these ladies and even that was just this week. After much deliberation via text, we decided to suck it up and go. It was definitely worth it. There were a lot of women there and five babies! Haha. Everyone was really sweet. It was kind of intimidating because the food was delicious and was all homemade! We did a quick introduction and ornament exchange. Afterwards, the hostess and the rest of the spouses were kind enough to answer all us newbies' questions about deployments. Currently Joshs squadron is deployed. Thankfully, my husband missed this boat and won't be deploying until later. Anyway, all the spouses were really gracious in answering my questions. I am very grateful because just this morning, I was reading a mini booklet we recieved from the base about deployments. It was a book that explains the psychological breakdown of feelings couples have before, after, and during a deployment.

The book was the biggest reality check I've had so far. I almost cried reading it. It really got me emotional thinking about little things that will be different in my daily life while Josh is deployed. Thankfully, the women really put me at ease. They were incredibly genuine and offered good advice and a shoulder to cry on. I was touched because I am basically a perfect stranger to them. I got some new phone numbers and hopefully several new friends. Thank god for other spouses that can understand exactly how I'm feeling and can reach out to help me during something as difficult as a deployment.

I know we have a challenging and exciting year ahead of us. It will be wonderful and hard, I'm sure. But all we can do is stick together, stay on each others' team and give each other the best we've got. :) Fortunately, that's something we're good at :)