Exhaustion

I am happy to report that my husband made it home safe. On Wednesday I traveled to the airport to pick him up. After some discussion the unit allowed him to travel on a commercial flight home with his two escorts.

While I was home waiting, worrying, frustrated, angry, sad, basically an emotional mess, the unit was behind the scenes preparing for my husband's return from the moment they found out he was hurt. Almost immediately the unit sent two of our guys to escort my husband home. Once I found out that information I rested a little easier with the travel part of the trip. I knew someone was there to help him. Once my husband landed he called our docs and they told him of the appointments they lined up for us the next day. I don't wish that anyone's husband be injured or you ever have to receive a phone call like I did but I can say that our unit has taken very good care of us throughout the process so far.

I was a ball of nerves when the plane landed and I was waiting for my husband to come off the plane. I knew he would be coming from the plane to the gate in a wheelchair. I wasn't sure how he'd look when I saw him or how he'd be feeling after traveling for so long. I was relieved when I saw him. I felt like I could breathe again. He had a big cast on his leg but overall looked pretty good considering.

His escorts helped me gather his things from baggage claim and load him in the car to go home. It was on the way home that we sorted out all the details that we both seemed to miss. We had each gotten bits and pieces of the story but it was nice to finally link things together in a way that made sense.

Once we made it home I discovered how much damage was actually done. My husband showed me all the bruises and scrapes. Almost the entire right side of his body was bruised and scraped up. At that point I was in shock. It had been almost a week since the accident and it looked like it happened yesterday.


These past few days have been difficult. It's hard to watch my husband ask for wheelchairs when we go into a store or the hospital for appointments. It's difficult to watch him walk around the house using crutches and in pain. The pain is starting to get better as the days go on. I was happy when he told me he wanted to go to men's group at church today. It was at least a little bit of normalcy. Although having to drop him off and pick him up because he can't drive isn't the most fun for either of us but we will get past that too.

I have learned that as a military wife no matter how prepared you think you are for a phone call or something to go wrong with your soldier during deployment, there is only so much you can do to prepare until it actually happens. There are questions that come up that you will never think about before hand, questions that loved ones will ask and you hadn't thought of that question until they brought it up, and an outpouring of support and love that you can feel to the core of your being.

It's good to have a plan in place but know that many things will change from that plan. I thought I knew what I would do when the 'what if' happened. Truth is for the first 6 hours I froze. I wasn't sure what to do, say, think, or feel. I cried and relied on my friend to get me through. Friendship is one of the most important tools we can have as a military wife. The true friends that are there for you will guide you to the right spot, stand up and speak when you can't and hold your hand while you wait.

I'm fortunate to have many military girlfriends. Some of them are my original battle buddies from Fort Campbell. We all went through deployment together and at different times held each other up when deployment became to difficult to bare.

If you don't have those relationships I encourage you to ask God to start putting those people in your path. I know now that if the 'what if' comes knocking on the door again I will not be fully prepared but my friends will be my legs to help me stand and my eyes to help guide me to the spot I need to be.