The Essence of a Navy Wife

I've heard that being a Navy spouse is the "hardest job in the Navy", which I completely disagree with. Many sailors have much harder things to face on a daily basis than merely being married to the Navy. It's easy being married to the Navy. We get a lot of "me time" when we don't have to answer to anyone. We can take the kids and see the sights. Better yet, we can do it while the kids are in school with our Navy spouse friends. We can act like tourists in our town while our husbands toil away at sea or shore command playing their part in securing our nation. We take our children to play groups and nap when they nap. Is this really that hard? It's not. But what is hard is having your heart break when your husband gets shipped off and your 4 year old chases after him screaming, "Daddy, please don't go".Trying to help your son deal with having a sporadic male role model and confidant while telling your husband we will be fine and hoping it is true. Trying to run things at home the same way things would run while he was here. It doesn't work. What is hard is the constant transitioning that not only you have to go through but you have to help your kids get through as well. Watching helplessly as your child tries to find her place in a new school, again. What is hard is trying to build a nurturing family life for your kids while having had 13 homes in 16 years, dad leaving for long periods of time, finally adjusting to his absence, then his return, then his absence, then his return. What is hard is maintaining a connection with this man who is constantly back and forth, who's life revolves around the needs of the Navy. Who has time to be a daddy and a husband when the Navy gives him that time. What is hard is trying to identify with a Coast Guard spouse who thinks that your lives are similar. What is hard is maintaining the desire to build a support network and make friends for the thousandth time when you know you will have to leave them. What is hard is finally heading to a shore command with the illusion that his job will be such that we will get to live a "normal" life if only for a couple years only to have to say goodbye again because the Navy has different plans for him. What is hard is being creative and sacrificial with your personal and professional dreams and goals to give yourself the flexibility so that YOU can continue to be the only constant in your kids lives. THIS is the essence of a Navy Wife.
And it is still not harder than what he does every single day.