Deployment Overview

It’s difficult to think back to the day Shane deployed, because all I can remember is crying harder than I ever have in my life. In the week following his departure, Dear John was released on the big screen and Lady Antebellum’s “I Need You Now” hit the radio. But hey, what's a little extra torture?

Well, I joined the Austin Valkyries in that first week too, which was the best decision I made this year. I met a group of 30 awesome chicks who gave me reason to stay fit and make new friends. I still plan on playing once Shane is back. He’s encouraging it, actually.

Looking back on the year, most of January and February is a blur, because it was my period of adjusting to dealing with my husband being in a war-zone. March brought South By Southwest and friends visiting, which was a nice break from the reality of how long I still had to go before R&R. In April, it was warm enough to start going tubing in Texas, and close enough to September to start looking at all things Paris. In May I went home for Memorial Day weekend, and got the dose of family I needed. In June, my mom and sisters came to visit me, and we had a blast in Austin. My friend Rachel came down the weekend after to celebrate July 4^th Texas style which was awesome. Soon after that I began booking hotels for Paris after a few months of hard research. I spent the rest of July and August shopping for cute things to wear for the 15 days of the year I got to see Shane. On August 21, war became all too real, when Shane’s truck got hit and his friend Maldonado was killed. I still think of that awful incident every single day, and feel blessed Shane is okay. The rest of August was heart wrenching, but before I knew it, I was in the Charles De Gaulle Airport with Shane standing in front of me. After those two amazing weeks, it was back to the reality of life sucking. In October, I had a wedding to fly home for, and November brought some fantastic shows. In December, I moved to a new apartment for me and Shane, and then went home for the holidays. Which brings me to now, almost a week before Shane’s expected return date.

Throw in a few moments of wanting to die, several nights of needing meds to help calm my nerves, and more tears than you can imagine, and there you have my experience with deployment in a nutshell. On the happier side of things, I have had hundreds of good conversations with Shane, quite a few flower deliveries and the most incredible vacation of all time.

My final thought is that war sucks, and I can only speak from the wife side of things. I obviously wasn’t the one out there putting my life on the line, eating shitty food for a year, and running on minimal sleep most days. I give Shane all the credit in the world for going on missions day in and day out, and dealing with everything he has this year. He has been an excellent soldier and husband, I have been a supportive wife, and I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished both separate and together. Hooray for this year finally almost coming to an end!

9 (almost 8) days to go! Yay single digits!