I always admired the wives and husbands of military personnel. They are bigger people than I am. See, I have a big heart, but I’m also a bit selfish and sharing the love of my life with an entire country is not a sacrifice I would be willing to make.
Fortunately enough, when I met my husband, he already had been out of the army for a number of years. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. With John, it was love at first sight, but regardless, I know I would have walked away because of my insecurities, had he announced he was a service man. I could not handle all that time apart, miles away. To me, soldiers were good to be used as “Mr. Right Now”, perhaps, but they definitely were not “Mr. Right” material.
I often catch John reminiscing about his military years. I know he holds these memories very dear. I am sometimes jealous, even, that I don’t get to be a part of these “good ol’ days” recollections. It pains me that there is a whole different side to my husband that I will never know. And there are relationships, that are probably even closer than that of ours, that I will never be part of. Military troops have an unbreakable bond. They are united through experience. “Blood, guts, sex and danger, that’s the life of an Airborne Ranger!”, fresh recruits chant while marching in cadence. They are young, wild, have high levels of adrenaline running through their veins, fear nothing and have each other’s back no matter what.
Of course, now, 35 years later, they have matured…
John has reconnected through facebook with a bunch of people he served with during his 10 year span in the military. Some mentored him, some he mentored. It was nice to hear him on the phone, with one of his comrade, remembering all the adventures they shared. He learned that some of his friends moved on to have long successful military careers, while others, sadly, had passed away.
All that to say that in May, I get to join him to his first reunion. Yep, I get to be a military wife while he goes off to briefly relive some of his fondest memories. It’s only for a week. I can deal with that. Unless he has an epiphany and decides to try to re-enlist? Come to think of it, I better start feeding him lots of junk food right away just to ensure he doesn’t pass the physical…
Did you say HAIKU?
I met with a very interesting gentleman this week. Brian Hubelit is a local Author and a poet who has recently published a book called “The Joy of Haiku”.
Brian came into my office for marketing advice—it is, after all, what we do here at the Seeker–and gave me a copy of his book to draw to our readers.
I have to admit that after he left, I grabbed the book and avidly started to read the pages with an interest that surprised me. The simple flow of the short poetic sentences had an immediate soothing and calming effect on me.
If this type of Japanese poetry is something that piques your curiosity, I urge you go to our facebook page, find the cover of the book and comment to get a chance to win a copy. If you’re too eager and just want to buy it now, the book costs $20.
Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. -Robert Frost
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=poetry