I will never forget when my husband decided to join the military. He had already been in the military twice before we ever met. When we did meet, he was newly out and that's when we began dating and eventually got married. But through a lot of hardships during that first year he decided he could make a better life for us in the military.
When I was pregnant with Mary, he started enrolling. And shortly after she was born, he got his appointment to go to MEPS. Being the nervous nelly I am, I went to MEPS with him because I wanted to find out just exactly what he was getting into. I myself knew nothing about the military and it was a scary thing to me, especially since he would be gone training and I would be with a newborn.
When we were there, he found out his job would be to drive HUM-V's, most likely overseas. And that's where I drew the line. I was so upset and since I was already going through postpartum depression it was enough to make someone go loony!
It's really hard when your spouse has a dangerous job. Thankfully my husband isn't in the military now and I can take a deep breath each day knowing he is safe.
But not every spouse is as fortunate as me. If your spouse has a dangerous job, here are some tips to cope:
- Stay in touch as much as possible. Call them on their way to work or even on their lunch break. I always checked on my husband when I could to make sure he was alright.
- Finding a support group online or in person is a huge help. Years ago I had a lovely group of women who helped me through a lot of things. We even swapped gifts in the mail which always made my day brighter.
- Start stress management habits. Learning how to take deep stress relieving breaths, finding out what relaxes you, taking long walks, etc can really help.
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