~~Very well written letter from an un known author. Please read!~~ I have recently come to the conclusion that when you have someone
deployed, you live in two worlds: "This" world and "That" world. In
This
World, everything goes on as normal. You go to work (for those that
work), do the laundry, clean the house, pay the bills.... You know --
all the things "normal" people do.
But we're not normal. We also live in That World -- the world where the
telephone ringing in the middle of the night is normal 'cause it's
morning over there'. The world where news is everything and vague
reports of improvised explosive devices can raise your heart rate 10
beats a minute and unconfirmed reports of soldiers' deaths can cause
you
to inhale involuntarily. The world that can fall apart in an instant
when the caller ID says it's Fort _____ or there's a knock at the door
and the chaplain is standing there.
In This World, holidays are a day off or a reason to shop. In That
World, holidays are markers of time passing... merely milestones until
homecoming. First we got through Valentine's Day,. then Easter (telling
ourselves that they'll be home next Easter), then Memorial Day (oh how
we'll celebrate next Memorial Day!), Independence Day (we'll have the
best barbecue next 4th!), Labor Day, Columbus Day.... just marking time
in That World... the World where you live between goodbyes and hellos
until it's goodbyes again.
In This World, birthdays and anniversaries, the births of children, the
marriages of friends and family are celebrated with a degree of sadness
because your soldier is not here... your soldier is in harm's way. Can
you ever truly celebrate in This World when your heart is mostly in
That
World? We do but only because we are forced to live in This and That
World.
We live in This World where the ringing phone is just a ringing phone
--
an annoyance, an interruption... but we are forced to also live in That
World where we curse because the phone does not ring often enough or
can
bring unhappy news... where 21st century technology is a tether to That
World but which we curse in blackout or busy times when we are plunged
into unwanted silence.
In This World, shopping is a normal every day activity, but because we
also live in That World, it is a lifeline to our soldier: shopping for
the things they need.... the things they like... the things that tie
them to home -- to us.... tie them to This World and learning that soft
toilet paper or their favorite brand of salsa may be more priceless
than
gold in That World.
In This World there are 24 hours in a day, but because we also live in
That World, we live a parallel 24. As we progress through our days in
This World, we are calculating the time in That World and conjuring up
pictures of what our soldier is doing at that moment. When we eat we
wonder if they had a hot meal today.... when we shower we wonder if
they
had hot water for a shower or whether it was a water bottle rinse
off.... we wonder if the mail even got through today. In This World,
"Where did the time go?" is a simple phrase. In That World, it is a
blessing that the hour or day went quickly because in That World time
passes excruciatingly slow --. especially those last few days until
that
plane touches down and the senior officer yells, "Dismissed!"
In This World, you are brave, tough, and supportive and you dare not
admit to many that in That World you are also weary, frightened,
worried
sick, and lonesome for your soldier and sometimes you cry about it for
him and for you.
In This World, you smile politely when someone asks about the yellow
ribbon pin or the purple "For Those Who Serve" bracelet you wear... and
you smile broadly when they ask you to thank your soldier for their
service in That World.
In This World you wonder why people clap when David Letterman or Jay
Leno say hurtful things about the War while your soldier fights nobly
in
That World for their right to say it. In This World you find that you
talk back to the television a lot and that you stop watching or
listening to Senators and Representatives and clueless celebrities who
can't seem to put aside their partisanship long enough to see the
effect
some of their mindless statements have on those that live in That World
and are fighting That war.
Before this deployment, I thought that once my husband -- once Our Guys --
were home, I would return to living in just one world -- This World.
However, now that the deployment is over, I have come to realize that a
part of me will always live between the two worlds. That World is now
an
integral part of This World for me... as it is for many others.
In This World, your friends are those you know in your neighborhood and
from the PTA or Lions Club meetings. For the families of those
deployed,
our friends in This World include everyone that understands all too
well
That World: friends that are serving, those that have served, the
families of those that are deployed, have been deployed or are
deploying
and the people that really do support them... always ready with a
helping hand, an encouraging word, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold
in good times and bad. That World is a big world inhabited by a large
family of which I am proud to be a member and for which I will forever
be grateful.
(Author Unknown)
Sarah "Devil Kitten NFS" Emo
- 16 years, 3 months, 19 days ago
