Value of a Battle Buddy

SO the past 30 hours have been difficult to say the least. I had an sort of "I'm overwhelmed" breakdown/ good cry yesterday. You know, the kind where you can't breath and feel sort of like a 10 yr old that fell off her bike... that kind.  I know it's juvenile, but with everything that I have decided to undertake, after it was said an done, it felt great. My eyes told another story today, and when I got to work "B" asked me if I had been crying again today. Which, I almost had, but didn't.

I haven't told you about "B" yet. "B" is one of my newly found battle buddies (her hubby isn't deployed, but she is an Army Wife living the Army Life so to speak). I met "B" on my first day of work, I walked in, there was this blonde with great shoes on, we chatted for a minute, and BAM, new (soon to be) great friend. Anyhow, she's therapeutic, makes me get down to the root of what's "wrong" with me at the various minute that I am complaining. Then she helps me work through it, in a healthy way. Now if I am in for a good old fashioned pity party, she'll let me indulge, but not for too long. Now my Friend "J", she'll let me indulge in my pity party for as long as I want. I met her through my volunteering with the FRG (husband's organic unit). She's quite a bit younger than I am, but has a wise soul. Her hubby is deployed OIF as well, my hubby wishes he was on "that" deployment, but he's not, his is different, and that's ok. As the pages continue to turn in the novel we call life, I know we are bound to come across another chapter called "Deployment", otherwise known as "Honey, you're going to have to take the garbage out yourself, and scoop cat poop as well", and he'll get his chance to do "that".

ANYWAY.... Both are amazing woman, AND both have my back. The hardest thing about this deployment is that I am so far away from everything. My family is back in AZ, I have like 3.5 friends here, All my "old" friends, well most don't understand what I am going through (although they try - but somehow your hubby going away for a two week business trip or living in another state doesn't make you sympathetic, it's makes me want to yell - BUT IS HE GETTING SHOT AT WHILE IN MIAMI ON HIS BUSINESS TRIP?!? - But I don't, because that is not conducive to a healthy post-deployment friendship). I digress..... Well, I guess the point of this is that I am dearly thankful for these two women in my life, I am not sure they know it, but when I am "ALL DONE" they hold me up, when I cry, they wipe away the tears, when I'm angry, one holds me down & calms me, the other, well, it's a tie, sometimes she calms me, sometimes she's right there poking me with a sharp stick to see what I'll do next. Either way, COULD NOT be doing this without these ladies!

Moral of the story is.... go find yourself a battle buddy, someone you can connect with, we know "us Army Wives" make friends in like 3 seconds with the "right" person. Nevertheless, it's a great thing, and hey, who else is going to understand the time difference, the bad communication, the need to not fight, but yet wanting to, the deep loneliness you feel when you are surrounded by people, the fear, and the simple joy of a hand written letter or seeing your service member on the computer screen. Nothing like Husband in a Box.