Appreciating Military Spouses Near and Far

To my girls who are wives of a certain courageous few,

you know who you are, and what’s been asked of you.

We often go unnoticed, overlooked, or disregarded,

and we wish they gave us coins; got recognized or even awarded.

We know how hard it is to breathe, those times when we haven’t heard,

days slowly turn into nights; still we haven’t gotten word…..

Of how he’s doing, so far away, in a scary terrorized town,

not knowing if he’s ok, eaten 3 meals, or if he’s been shot-down.

To my girls who are wives or girlfriends of these brave and fearless souls,

who travel through towns or deserted roads, armed and on patrol.

To those of you who faithfully send your love, even the postal workers know you by name,

you handle weekly packages AND your children, all while staying sane.

To my girls who stay with your soldier, purely out of love and pride,

we both know it’s not for the money, but we’re taking it all in stride.

For making so many moves, to different towns and different posts,

getting use to smaller commissaries, and missing your family when you need them the most.

This is for my girls — for the stressful nights and dinners we’ve eaten alone,

for lying and telling him how the web cam helps, but secretly wishing he was home.

For keeping your tears held deep inside so he doesn’t see you cry,

and waiting until no one’s around, to fall apart and yell out “why?”

This is for the pregnant wives, who don’t know if he’ll make it home,

or wondering if you’ll just have to settle with hearing his voice on the phone.

For all the times we cried ourselves to sleep, ’cause we haven’t heard from him in days,

we tend to find our strength again – we’ve learned how to do this in so many ways.

Even for those other spouses – yes there are men who support their soldier too.

I commend you for staying strong – I know it’s been hard on you.

People say our soldiers, marines, and sailors are heroes, and about this we would agree.

They are brave, and they are Heroes. But remember, so are we!

So please, today and always, keep your head up and wave your flags with pride,

put your “I love my soldier” magnets all over your car, if that’s what you decide.

You’re doing a great job, and you deserve a medal as big as a house,

better yet, you deserve a promotion for your silent rank, known as the military spouse.

By Jaime A. Melendez