Hooah...Always

I ran my hand over the folded stack of uniforms in his closet. Some of them are faded, because that's what Afghanistan does to things. Then I shut the door, and haven't looked at them since. I admit it- I am going to feel strange when drill weekend approaches and he stays home. I will miss the uniforms, and the filthy hands, with grease from a humvee or Illinois soil underneath his fingernails.

To answer your questions- yes, Sky will be trying to re-enlist. We both want it. I haven't even asked him why he wants it, to be honest with you. We need the money, of course. He would be able to re-class, something he's wanted to do for quite a while now (but trying to re-class out of infantry, in the current state of the world...close to impossible). I know there's that secret part of his heart that wants to win a certain badge (one that I do not want him to win, for the record). And if you asked me, I couldn't really explain to you all the reasons I think he should. I could only tell you that I agree with him. For me, it's a complex, weighty decision, but it never seemed like there was a debate with either of us.

So, we will wait the mandatory six month wait, and then he will be trying hard to get back into the National Guard. We talk about active and reserves, just like we have since the very beginning, but as of now, that is where it stands. The Army is changing it's PT standards (switching them up completely, really), so there will be less focus on the run. That's good news for a lot of soldiers.

Several nights ago, he said, "Do you still love me even though I'm not in the Army?" I was actually a bit insulted at the question, and thought it was ridiculous- until I remembered I had asked the very same thing of my readers. It sounded silly coming from another person. Because after reading through all thirty three comments from all of you, it finally got put through my head that Erika ≠ just a military wife. Though I am overwhelmingly honored and proud to count myself a part of the community, I realize that most of my life was not spent as a milspouse, but all of my life was spent as me- and I am many things besides that. The reason I read all the blogs I do is not solely because they are (mostly) written by military wives- that just happened to be how I found them. I read them because I want to hear about their lives. It was wrong of me to assume less from my readers.

So I thank you- for the comments and emails I've received, for the prayers and kind thoughts, and most of all, for reading. For caring.

And whether this is a milspouse blog, a veteran's spouse blog, or a plain, old Erika blog, I will always be writing.

Hooah.