I appreciate you all...

Since 1984 it proclaimed the Friday before Mother's Day of each year to be Military Spouse Appreciation Day.

Today is our day. A day to recognize and appreciate that we serve too, we may not wear the rank, uniform, carry a weapon, or go along on deployments, field trainings, etc. But we are the ones at the root of it all, supporting and loving our military men. We somehow keep it all together when all we want to do is fall apart. We play mother and father to our children at times, endure countless nights of crying ourselves to sleep and awakening to roll over to his side of the bed to realize it was only a dream and his side is empty. We have eaten many meals alone, waited in numerous never ending lines at the post office just to mail off a simple care package to give our loved one a little taste of home. We have had to watch our men walk away from us for months, and years at a time, not knowing if we will ever see them again. We have all had our hearts jump into our throats every time the door bell rang, in fear of men in green suits and a chaplain possibly on the other side. We have all lived for phone calls and emails, because it meant they are ok and it helped to calm our fears for a few moments. We have all tripped over our husbands boots in the middle of the night and while we may want to throw them at them for leaving them in the middle of the floor again, we simply push them aside and thank god that the boots are on the floor to be tripped over, because it simply means he is home and we never know when those boots will leave again. And while many people may ask "how do you do it" we can not give an answer, other than "we just do" it is our way of life, and we adapt, we have no choice. We don't expect our family and non military friends to understand, and god bless them all for trying to, we love them for it, we are thankful for their love and support. We also know they can not fully understand unless they live this crazy life we do. Being a military spouse brings so many feelings and emotions. Things are constantly changing in our lives from day to day. I am proud to be a military spouse, I am honored to stand along side a true American hero. So today I honor all military spouses, I am thankful to each and every one of you for doing what you do, not only today, but every day, and I thank you for being a part of our military family!