I have purposefully waited to write this post because I wanted things to be finalized before I made anything "blog official." Taylor will be deploying with his Utah Army National Guard unit to Afghanistan on January 15, 2012. Yup, less than a month after we get married.
Needless to say, things are crazy right now. I'm in the final count-down for the wedding with last minute to-do lists and coordinations and I'm mentally preparing myself with long term goals and short term goals for his departure. Weird that I'm going to be a military wife. The military spouse transformation will be complete with military ID, power of attorney and military spouse benefits.
The thing that keeps me going is knowing that things are going to be okay. We'll be married, we have been separated before and we love each other. Plus, the overriding feeling (even at times stronger than the pain of him leaving which I already feel) is that he is suppose to go. I can't fight it, and it makes his national guard duties easier to accept and support.
Next week I should have some down time because he starts training so I am going to do a "strong women" list of my goals or ideas of how to be successful for the next year of full-time army. If you are, were or know any military spouses, feel free to connect us. If there's anything I've realized in the past month it's that support networks are the only way to stay strong during a spousal separation.
Lots of love,
Hilary
