Tonight I'm going with Jon to the Air Force ROTC closing social. They're playing broom hockey and then ice skating. While there are a few girls, the Air Force mostly consists of guys and the Colonel is always trying to get them married off. I know this from interviewing him a few times and from the way he talks to me about Jon and others. The other day TyRee, who is in the nursing program, received an email inviting all the nursing students to the closing social. We laughed because we know the Colonel was the mastermind behind it, playing matchmaker with the Air Force guys and nursing girls.
I talked to the Colonel again this morning, because I'm writing an in-depth article (my very last article...I'm a little sad) about military families. Out of the 28 years that he and his wife have been married, they have spent a total of 9 years apart-that's about 1/3 of their marriage! And he said that they had moved about 27 times--including moves in college, but still. The way he talked about it seemed a bit casual, like that's just the way it was, which I thought was interesting. He said being in the military had strengthened his relationship with his children, and helped them be closer to each other. I suppose you'd adjust to whatever lifestyle you take on, but still, that just seems like it would be so difficult. People who manage that lifestyle and are still as amazing as the Colonel are my new heroes.
2 comments:
As an air force brat myself, I am lucky that my dad wasnt away from us very long. I remember him going TDY a few times for a few weeks, or maybe even a month, but it wasnt unbearable.
You'd probably have to ask his wife about that to get the whole story. I've found that, in general at least (no pun intended--haha!), men seem to have much less of a hard time being away from their families than stay-at-home-moms have with their husbands being gone. Mostly because being a mom can get tedious, and we need a break! Or at least an actual shoulder to lean on sometimes. If you do ever talk to the general's wife, I'd be so curious what she would say.
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