Communication

(I have re-written this due to the fact that I wasn't 100% happy with the original version.  It ended not being what I was looking for, therefore the new version.)

Communication is the key to every relationship.  For some it is easier to keep up the communication than it is for others.  For those of us who are living a life in the military, either serving or as a spouse, there are different challenges that we face.

We go for days, month, sometimes years without seeing our spouses.  Zac and I went almost 9 weeks while he was at basic where we didn't see each other.  The only form of communication that we had were the letters and brief phone calls on occasion.

I remember, before he left, I made a promise to write him at least once a day while he was at basic.  From the day before he left until about a week before I went to see him(I wanted to make sure he would get the letters so I stopped writing the week before I went to see him) I wrote him everyday, sometimes twice a day.  I would tell him about my day, how work went, how our dog Misty was doing, funny things that were said or done.  I would also tell him about my good days, my bad days and the days that were somewhere in between.  I wanted him to know I was surviving, finding a way to keep busy so I don't miss him as much, and that I am extremely proud of him and love him so very much!

My letters just let him know what was going on in my life.  But, I sent other things as well.  At Christmas myself and a group of others whose men were in the same flight as Zac got a list together and we sent Christmas cards/letters to all the Airmen that we had names for.  I sent a birthday card to the guys in Zac's flight that I knew would have a Birthday while they were in basic.  I sent a page filled with pictures of my latest cake projects just so he could show them off to his buddies.  I printed pictures of me, or us, in some letters so he could see my smile again. I sent pages of funny jokes one time, and another a page full of encouraging quotes and verses the week before he had a field exercise.  Our nephew and I even sat down and colored pictures for Uncle Zac over Christmas.  One of my favorites is the two or three times our dog Misty wrote him letters.  I would add a Bible Verse at the end of each letter so that he could have an encouraging verse each time he read a letter.  I wanted him to know that I supported him, prayed for him, wanted him to laugh and to encourage him!

I also eagerly anticipated a letter from him in my mailbox.  I would check my mail daily hoping for a glimpse of his handwriting on the small blue envelopes I had come to expect from him.  After he was actually able to write and started sending me letters every week I would check my mail, sometimes more than once, near the end of the week hoping that he was able to send me even a short note.  I even remember checking the mail 3 times one day because I knew it was about that time of week where the mailman would deliver a letter from my hubby!  I cherished every word in those letters, sometimes read them 20 times and about memorized some of them.

We would also get short phone calls almost once a week.  I remember making sure my phone was always charged and the volume turned way up so that I would hear it ring if he got the chance to call me for a few minutes.  I would spend my Saturday nights staring at my phone hoping that he would be able to call again like his did last week.  Over Christmas and New Year's I was blessed with the opportunity to talk to him for about an hour.  Seeing as we had only had maybe 15 minutes to call the whole time he had been in Basic this was a HUGE blessing.

Now that he is out of Basic Training we are able to text, talk, Skype  e-mail and still write each other.  There have only been a couple of days in the last 4 months that we haven't talked for at least 10 minutes or more at night.  A lot of times we will talk for an hour or more on the phone or Skype at night, usually about nothing much just going over how fun, or boring, our day was.  We are even able to send packages to each other with little things that we know will make the other person smile!

I am really thankful that I am able to keep in contact with my husband easier now.  I know there are many families who still don't get the chance to talk to their loved ones on a regular basis.  I have learned to cherish every letter, every text, every e-mail and every minute we can call or Skype each other.  This is my lifeline to him and without it my days would be much harder and my nights much longer.

Thank you Lord for Modern Technology and the privilege to communicate daily with my husband!!