MILITARY SPOUSES

[NaomiMarie]

Beth Raebeck-Hall
George McCorckle
Amy-Jayne McCabe
This song is dedicated to all Military Spouses and all who are married to someone who is often separated from their family.

The Rock

By the dawns early light my baby’s far away
Still the kids and I will start another missing him day
Only destiny knows when he’ll return
We’ll be here for him keeping the fires burning

I am the Rock, a foundation of love
Solid and true with strength from above
I keep this family going, I stand beside my man
I live without knowing
I am the Rock

As my day unfolds, I reach into my soul
Though I’m proud of him
I need some peace of mind to hold
And when I think about the the sacrifices he makes
I’ll do what I can do whatever it takes

I am the Rock, a foundation of love
Solid and true with strength from above
I keep this family going, I stand beside my man
I live without knowing
I am the Rock

It will be ok and I will not stumble,
Our love is so strong Our world will not crumble

I am the Rock, a foundation of love
Solid and true with strength from above
I keep this family going, I stand beside my man
I live without knowing
I am the Rock

Yes, I live without knowing
But I am the Rock


__________________

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[hrdlife1]

thank you naomi, this is beautiful!! printed this one out

[NaomiMarie]

Originally posted by hrdlife1
thank you naomi, this is beautiful!! printed this one out

YVW Steph

[NaomiMarie]

SISTERHOOD


I am a military wife - a member of that sisterhood of women who have had the courage to watch their men go into battle, and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank, for we earn our membership with a marriage license, traveling over miles, or over nations to begin a new life with our military husbands.


Within days, we turn a barren, echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white-walled and unpapered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels, for we shop the markets of the globe.


Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall, and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there for a lifetime. We hold a family together by the bootstraps, and raise the best of "brats," instilling in them the motto, "Home is togetherness," whether motel, or guest house, apartment or duplex.


As military wives we soon realize that the only good in "Good-bye" is the "Hello again." For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, at sea, or in the sky, leaving us behind, for a week, a month, an assignment. During separations we guard the home front, existing until the homecoming.


Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by years, but by tours - married at Knox, a baby born at Portsmouth, a special anniversary at Yorktown, a promotion in McDill. We plant trees, and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us. We leave a part of ourselves at every stop.


Through experience, we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car or hold baggage, and live indefinitely from the contents within: and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn, and the silver we have shined, our hands are always ready to help those around us.


Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle, will also blanket them in death. Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good, and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday, while anticipating tomorrow.


Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every military bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another, sharing the bounty of our unique, fulfilling military way of life.





HIS MILITARY WIFE


A military wife is mostly girl - though there are times when her husband is away and she is mowing the lawn, that she begins to think that she is also a "boy." She usually comes in three sizes: petite, plump, and pregnant. During the early years of her marriage it is often hard to determine which size is her normal one.


She has babies all over the world, and she measures her time in places - as other women do in years. "It was at Bliss that we all had the mumps" - "In Germany, Joe was promoted." At least one of her babies is born or one transfer is accomplished when she is alone - causing her to suspect a secret pact between her husband and the military, which provides for a man to be overseas or TDY at these times. A military wife is international: she may be an Iowa farm girl, a French Mademoiselle, or an ex-army nurse. When discussing their military problems, they speak the same language.


She can be a great actress. Watching her children's heartbreak at transfer time, she gives an academy award performance; "Arizona is going to be so much fun." "I hear they have Indian Reservations - with tarantulas - and rattlesnakes," but her heart is breaking along with theirs and she wonders if this military life is worth the sacrifice. One day later, en route to the new assignment, and filled with a spirit of adventure, she knows it is. That is, if the baby hasn't come down with a virus, or the twins with measles.


An ideal military wife has the patience of an angel, the flexibility of putty, the wisdom of a scholar - and the stamina of a horse. If she dislikes money, it helps. She loves to gripe (Why shouldn't the commissary bag my groceries like the supermarket?) She lets off steam and goes back to bagging them again.


She is sentimental, carrying her memories with her in an old footlocker. She often cries at parades without knowing why. She is a dreamer - "We'll never move again." She is an optimist - "The next place will be better." She is a realist - "Oh, well, as long as we're together." You might say she's a bigamist, sharing her husband with a demanding other entity called "DUTY." When duty calls, she becomes the #2 wife - and until she accepts this fact her life can be miserable.


She is many persons. She is the tired traveler coming down the gang plank with a smile on her lips, love in her eyes, and a new baby in her arms. She is the General's wife smiling in a reception line until her cheeks ache; the foreign bride in a strange American world. She is, above all, a Woman who married a soldier who offered her the permanency of a gypsy, the miseries of loneliness, the frustration of conformity, and the security of love.


Sitting among all her packing boxes with children squabbling nearby, she is sometimes willing to chuck it all - until she hears the firm step and the cheerful voice of the "Lug" who gave her all this. And, then she is happy to be....."His Military Wife."


__________________

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[NaomiMarie]

SOLDIER'S WIFE


Survival in an unknown place becomes her test of truth
Her burdens are of many and his tanks are sometimes small.
She keeps her faith through thick and thin and makes the best of all.
She lives with some uncertainty, knows not what dawn may bring,
But he knows nothing stops his girl from doing anything.
Whether stripe or bar adorns his collar for his strife,
Nothing means more to a soldier than the one he calls his wife.





SILENT PATRIOT


A woman for all seasons
A woman for today.
She grows to meet the challenges
And grows along the way.


Her life is not an easy one
With many loads to bear.
But she proudly serves her husband
And the uniform he wears.


Although she didn't take the oath
To preserve democracy
She's there each day on the home front
To keep our country free.


She's foreign-born or a country girl,
Diversity you will find.
But to be an army wife
It takes a special kind.


She's one who keeps on going
Through adversity and pain.
She's the steady, strong foundation
When nothing stays the same.



She's the one who sheds a tear
As Old Glory passes by,
But couldn't give a answer
If you were to ask her why.


Throughout the years, she marches on
Through tears and joy and strife.
She's america's unsung hero-
She's a military wife.





THE MILITARY WIFE



The good Lord was creating a model for military wives and was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared. She said, "Lord, you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one."

The Lord replied, "Have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be completely independent, possess the qualities of both father and mother, be a perfect hostess to four or forty with an hour's notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency possible without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregnant and has the flu, and she must be willing to move to a new location ten times in seventeen years. And oh, yes, she must have six pairs of hands."

The angel shook her head. "Six pairs of hands? No way."

The Lord continued, "Don't worry, we will make other military wives to help her. And we will give her an unusually strong heart so it can swell with pride in her husband's achievements, sustain the pain of separations, beat soundly when it is tired and overworked, and be large enough to say, `I understand,' when she doesn't and say, `I love you,' regardless."

"Lord," said the angel, touching his arm gently, "go to bed. You can finish this tomorrow."

"I can't stop this now," said the Lord. "I am so close to creating something unique. Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up with six unexpected guests for the weekend, can wave goodbye to her husband from a pier, a runway, or a depot, and can understand why it is important that he leave."

The angel circled the model of the military wife, looked at it closely, and sighed. "It looks fine, but it's too soft."

"She might look soft," replied the Lord, "but she has the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure."

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Lord's creation. "There's a leak," she announced. "Something is wrong with the construction. I am not surprised that it has cracked. You are trying to put too much into this model."

The Lord appeared offended at the angel's lack of confidence. "What you see is not a leak," He said. "It's a tear."

"A tear? What's it there for? asked the angel.

The Lord replied, "It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, pride, and a dedication to the values that she and her husband hold dear."

"You're a genius!" exclaimed the angel.

"The Lord looked puzzled and replied, "I didn't put it there."





RECIPE FOR A MILITARY WIFE


1 1/2 cups of Patience

1 lb. Adaptability

3/4 cup Tolerance

1 tsp. Courage

A dash of Adventure

Combine above ingredients: add 2 tablespoons elbow grease. Let sit alone for one year. Marinate frequently with salty tars. Pour off excess fat. Sprinkle lightly with money. "Knead" dough until payday. Season with international spices. Bake 20 years or until done.

Dedicated to military wives everywhere, who have wave "good-bye" more often than not, who have heated up more dinners than most wives cook, who have missed more anniversaries, Christmases and Valentine's Days than they should have, and most important have welcomed their husbands home gladly.





THE SOLDIER'S WIFE


When she was a girl, her dreams were bold


As bold as her fine, free gaze;
And every gift of grace and mind,
Were hers in her younger days.
When she was a girl, a golden girl
With a soul as fine as fire,
She could outshine the brightest jewel
The rich man's love could buy her.
Yes, her's could have been the glittering path,
Through a careless, carefree life,
But she fell in love with a soldier,
So she was a soldier's wife.


Away from the home of her childhood,
She marched at her husband's side,
For she chose a wide and winding road,
When she became a bride.
And sometimes the road was a hard one,
So different from what she had planned,
Sometimes she wept for the home she had left
As she lay in a foreign land;
And sometimes her steps would grow weary,
As she followed the drum and the fife;
But she set about making the world her home,
Because she was a soldier's wife.


She learned to build a hearth for them
Wherever her man was sent,
And she knelt to plant a garden
Everytime he pitched their tent.
Yes, she would always plant a garden
Though she never saw it grow,
For she knew before the flowers came
That she would have to go.
But she left each garden gladly,
Though it cut her like a knife,
For she hoped to bring comfort,
To another soldier's wife.
To the hardships in her married life,
She brought one simple truth;
A promise that was spoken, in the ancient words of Ruth:
"Wherever you go, I will go
Where you lodge, I will lodge
Your people shall be my people
And your God shall be my God."
I'll share your joy and sorrows
As we make our way through life,
For I'm proud to love a soldier
And to be a soldier's wife.


She bore the weight of worrying
What fate might hold in store.
And the wordless fear of waiting
When her soldier went to war.
And the nights that she spent fearing,
That her wait was in vain;
And the pain of wanting someone
She might never hold again.
But she bore his children gladly
Through uncertainty and strife,
And they never heard her crying
For she was a soldier's wife.


She raised a soldier's family
With the faith her love had taught her,
And she gave the pride she had inside
To her son and her daughter.
She taught them to love freedom
And to know what is was worth,
As they helped her plant her gardens
In the corners of the earth.
And she never wished for better
Than the road they marched through life
For she was as much a soldier
As she was a soldier's wife.


__________________

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