My Hero...

Today, I'm not writing about me. I want to discuss my hero.

I'm talking about my wife. Today is our first anniversary. Obviously, it's not the way that we want to celebrate it, but as I've told her... the distance apart doesn't diminish my happiness being married to her.

I have to admire her. This is our second marriage for both of us. As I'm sure others who've remarried have thought, "... this time, it's going to be better." I'm not sure if what we have right now is what she was planning on, but I am impressed at how well she hangs in there.

A marriage that results in being more like a single mom than a couple.

More time apart (so far) than together.

My Sweet, who has rarely left the comfortable local area of her hometown has picked up, moved to Germany (middle of nowhere, no less) and embraced living in a foreign land without her husband as a guide.

Switching over to Army life. There's a WHOLE new set of rules to play by. (For all who want to know what's it like to have the government in EVERY part of your life... enlist - get it out of your system.)

Raising three beautiful children... alone.

I'm not sure what her reactions were/are for the times when I call and the first words are, "I'm ok."


This lady has been through so much, already. And yet, she continues to eagerly tell me that, "I'm a catch." She sees past and/or accepts the faults of me that I can't stand, and then loves me even more.

How do I repay her? How do I show her how much she means to me? How much her support steadies me... when I'm so far away. And how her comfort helps when I'm home.

How to thank her for the beautiful children with whom she has blessed us? I cannot imagine my life without those precious faces in it.

She juggles so much, from screaming children, to misbehaving urine-wielding cats, to navigating the Army healthcare system, to driving in a foreign land to someplace she's never been, to supporting her husband four thousand miles away in a war zone.

You guys reading this... how many of us would sign up to do a job like hers? Not many, I'd wager.

She is my strength.

She is my resolve.

She is the love that keeps me going, and warms me to the core.

Ellicia, today is for you. I wish I could be there in person, but know that I am with you in spirit, and in my Heart.

I look forward to all the anniversaries to come, knowing that with a first like this one... nothing can hold us back... only together.

I love you.