Flashback Friday: Separation

I am participating in another Flashback Friday this week.  If you would like to participate or visit the host of this awesome weekly event, please go on over to Christopher and Tia. :)

Since Tia posted a Flashback Friday about being apart from her husband after they were first married and he went off to Basic, I figured I'd do a post associated with my husband being away too.  (However, ours is only for a weekend and I wasn't pregnant, so nowhere near as hard as what Tia and Christopher went through!!) :)

John and I were married in July 2006 and we have been away from each other overnight all of three weekends throughout this almost four years.  We had never been apart overnight for the first year of our marriage; it wasn't until after Johnny came along.  The first time we were apart was when Johnny was only three months old (late Oct. 2007) and I went away to be a chaperone for our church's youth group at a Youth Conference.  I was gone for the weekend and while it was fun to be able to participate in the conference, it was really really hard to be away from my husband for the first time and from my baby boy for the first time too.  I ended up missing out on my son rolling over for the first time while I was gone and that was hard to deal with when I got back.  That was the only time I've ever been away from my son overnight since he was born.  

The next time we were away from each other overnight was when John went away on a Boy Scout camping trip as an assistant leader, which I will be talking about in a moment.  The only other time that we have been apart was shortly after the Boy Scout trip, when Johnny was nine months old when Johnny and I went to Montana with my parents for a graduation party/family reunion.  John had to stay home because it was very last minute and he couldn't get time off from work.  We were gone for only one night, but it was also hard to be away from John that time too.  We got back on my first Mother's Day. :)

Now, for the picture above.  That picture was taken by my grandma (I love you & miss you!) right after my husband got back from a Boy Scout camping trip as an assistant leader.  This was in the spring of 2008...March or April.  My husband is an Eagle Scout and had been volunteering as an assistant Scoutmaster with the same troop each week, so he was going along on a camping trip with the troop.  It was the first time that he had gone away from me or our son overnight (the only other time we had ever been away from each other overnight at this point was when I went to the youth conference as a chaperone).  They went away for the weekend and because it was in a remote area, they weren't in cell range either.  They had a fun trip, but I was lonely and missing him at home with our seven month old little boy.  He ended up getting back home that Monday while I was at school and my grandma was watching Johnny for me.  She took this picture and I love it because they both just "pop" in this picture with all of the neon and bright colors. :)  I'm excited for the time when Johnny is old enough for Cub Scouts and then old enough for Boy Scouts and can go on camping trips like that with his daddy too!

It seems pretty pathetic that John and I have only ever been away from each other overnight three times in our entire marriage, but that is just how it has worked out.  I'm such a wimp, because those three times were difficult.  A sane military wife, I would not make.  I'm sure as we get older, there will be plenty of times when we have to be away from each other for work or field trips or camping or whatever.  I'm not exactly looking forward to them, because I already know that I don't sleep well when John isn't there.  Even when he annoys me to no end during the day and I want to just ship him off to the other side of the world, I'll still want him there when I go to sleep at night.  I don't have to be happy with him per se...I just need him to be there. ;)  I have a lot of respect for wives out there that have to be away from their husbands frequently, especially military wives.  Military wives have to deal with raising children while worrying about the spouse who is away frequently and often for long periods of time, and in the present time - at war.  I don't know how they do it, but they have my respect.  :)

Thank you Tia for posting your story about how you braved a few months away from your husband while pregnant - you are a lot stronger than me!  :)  It was nice to actually think about the times I've been apart from my husband and it has helped me to gain an appreciative perspective on how lucky we have been to not have to go through that very frequently.  Happy Friday everyone!