The Sweetest Sound

There are many sounds that I love. The sound of rain, the sound of my children laughing, the quiet in the morning, and yesterday I discovered just how much I love the sound of my husband's voice.

Yesterday was a LONG day with many emotions. There were tons of phone calls to make and answer as well as questions that I still didn't have answers to. All I knew was my husband had an accident, had surgery and was fine after surgery. I think the not knowing details of events like this is almost harder than knowing every painful detail. With knowing the details you are able to process information differently. When you don't know the information your brain can fill in a ton of 'what ifs'. In addition to the 'what if' scenarios you have to answer questions from family and friends that you hadn't thought of yet. I had to answer many questions with a simple "I don't know."

Last night the phone rang many times. Each time my heart raced hoping it was my husband. Each time throughout the day my heart sank because it wasn't him. When the unit called to give me an update I thought for sure I'd hear my husband on the other end. Based on caller ID I got my hopes up only to have them dashed when I heard a unit member on the other end. Then, after being sure I wouldn't hear from my husband for the rest of the night, the very last phone call to the house was my husband.


I started to cry when I heard his voice. It was almost as much relief as when I pick him up after a trip. That feeling of I can breathe again. Many military wives will understand that feeling. Each trip begins with me running the race and feeling like I am holding my breathe, partly in preparation for the 'what ifs' and every time my husband comes home I let out a big sigh and can breathe again.

I held myself together as much as possible because I know that it is extremely hard for my husband to hear me cry and not be able to fix things for me. He is my protector and takes pride in protecting me from anything that would cause me harm. I didn't want to upset him so I shed a tear or two(or 10 or 20) and let him talk. His voice was steady but I could tell he was in pain. Our conversation was short and ended with being disconnected. I didn't have a chance to tell him I love him or how proud I was of him or how much we miss him. I shed a few more tears.

Today each time the phone rang I jumped hoping to hear my husband's voice again. Each time my heart sank when I looked at the caller ID to see that it wasn't him. In my head I know that I probably won't hear from him much until he gets back stateside. I still get my hopes up every time the phone rings. It was with each phone call that I began to realize that the sweetest sound I could ever hear was my husband's voice on the end of the phone telling me he was okay.