There's a "sister" in our family who is battling the big C. Sometimes the day is good, she feels great, and for that moment, she's winning; and then there are times she understands it's okay to simply play to a draw in her strategic battle. All the time she knows her number could be up tomorrow or the next day or the next week ... but always, even after a bad day at chemo, she musters the resolve to utter this phrase -- "What doesn't kill you, has to make you stronger." And on goes the mascara, she dresses to the 9's, and off she goes.
Since I seem to be more inclined to be the pragmatist rather than philosopher, I presumed she was referring to the lethal drugs they were putting into her body in measured doses. What I didn't understand, was how she was really referring to life ...
The Boss and I have endured military strife (in general) and deployed strife (in particular) that stretches from the Cold War to the Long War. And we've managed to hang in there all along the way by adhering to what we can attribute to be the same philosophy .... If we can survive this issue or that turmoil, we can survive anything. We may not like floating next to the turd in the punchbowl, but when we recover from each crappy turn-of-events, we honestly believe it's made us wiser, and made us stronger.
You gals out there in SpouseBUZZ land are from the same cloth. I can hear it in the thoughts you send us, via the comments you make. Yepper, there's going to be times when you look in the mirror and utter those oft said comments, "that's it - I can't go on like this anymore or any longer. Scotty, beam me up." < This is when it happens > -- you look back up into the mirror and realize -- for every problem, there's got to be a fix. For every issue, there must be a resolution to be found. And then you know -- that you and only you, can reach down inside and grab hold of your own unseen and untapped abilities. It's Spouse Power -- a phenomenon only those who are married to a US Warrior possess. And powered by tears of frustration and tears of anger and yes, at times with tears of overpowering sadness, you know you can drag yourself back to daylight. And once you've stabilized, you too will realize regardless of how bad it is, if we can muster what it takes to survive, that very survival will make us stronger.
A couple of notes from you gals (I see you peeking over the edge of your keyboard) recently helped me to understand the time was right for me to look into the mirror and remember that each of the authors in our virtual support group of SpouseBUZZ are here to remind you, you can survive the rigors of deployment, and you can overcome the piss-ant Napoleon's covered in Teflon who are all blow and no go, and you ... will ... be ... stronger. Now I remember and now I know my "sister" will be proud. Over&Out, MaintenanceToadOne
