Plugged toilets. Misbehaving children. Vandalized cars. Children's schoolwork. A family's Easter dinner. They are all doses of daily life that most of us experience but usually discuss only with the person closest to us. But if you are a military spouse and that person is thousands of miles away in a world that's dangerous and full of secrets, routine chatter about the day takes on a different tone.
Our new blog, Front-line Army Wife, features the conversations the wife of a Canadian soldier has with her husband as he serves his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. In it, she writes about everyday life at home: their pets, their children, grocery shopping. She also shares her fears, anger, confusion and her love. Often, because of his duties, for long stretches of time he has no idea what she has written.
We're not identifying the family, where they live or the soldier's home base in Canada. That's standard for many in the military who choose instead to use nicknames in personal communication, even for the pets.
In coming forward to share the blog, this front-line wife says she hopes some of her most intimate musings will be of some comfort to another person in her situation.
"If I had someone who could tell me that my crazy thoughts were normal, it would have made that first tour easier."
46
