Jason and I got married back in April, just a week before he was scheduled to PCS (permanent change of station) to Guam with the U.S. Navy. I stayed behind in Jackson, Mississippi and joined him here in Guam on July 7. Jason is a Junior Officer on a U.S. Fast Attack submarine, the U.S.S. City of Corpus Christi. He is currently the MPA, or Main Propulsion Assistant. In Emily terms, this means that Jason is the Officer In Charge of the nuclear mechanics on the submarine. He loves his job, and the good Lord knows I try to be supportive, but I hate it.
When I arrived in July, the CCC was still out on a mission. They came home a few days later, and re-deployed on September 10. People kept saying how great it was that the guys were going to be home for a few months, that they never get to stay here that long.. Um, what!? I'm supposed to be excited about getting to spend a mere two months with my husband??
Let me tell you that those two months were awful where his job is concerned. For reasons I can't write here, Jason was sometimes at work for 16 hour days. In fact, it was a lot more common than not. On top of 16 hour days, Jason was in what was called 3 section duty. This meant that every third day, Jason had to stand duty on the submarine. If he went to work on Monday morning and had duty that day, he would stand duty from 0700 on Monday until 0700 on Tuesday. He still had to stay for work all day on Tuesday, coming home about 1900 (or 7 pm). This meant that he would go to work between 0600 and 0700 on Wednesday, come home between 1900 and 2000 (8 pm), and then start the whole process over on Thursday. TERRIBLE!! He was barely getting time to sleep, much less time to spend with me. We only got to spend the entire weekend together maybe one weekend out of four.
So there I was: On an island with no family, no friends quite yet, and it seemed like no husband. I talked to the other wives, and they assured me that this amount of work our husbands were having to do wasn't common, and it would pass soon. It didn't. In fact, the last two weeks before the guys deployed again were the worst. I started looking for a job to just get me out of the house. I quickly realized that sitting at home by myself (waiting on him to come home to me) was driving me crazy. There were a few nights when all I did was cry and think about how much I wanted to be back in Mississippi. At least there I would have friends and family to take care of me. In fact, getting back to Mississippi was all I could think about. I loved Jason with all my heart, but if I never saw him, what was the point in staying in Guam??
The CCC deployed in early September, and I was still miserable. I got a job substituting at the Elementary and Middle School here on base, and I got closer to the other wives so I finally had friends, but it still wasn't enough. Just as soon as I could, which turned out to be September 30, I got on a plane headed to Hawaii, then on to California. I spent almost a full two months stateside, and all I could think of while I was there, even while I was with my best friends and my family, was getting back to be home when Jason came home.
I finally realized that my life is here now. I love my family, and I miss them and my friends like crazy, but my life is here in Guam where Jason will come home. I made it back to the island just two days before the CCC pulled back into port. I can honestly say that watching my man walk across the bridge of that submarine was probably the best moment of my life for the past few months. He's been home now for a little over a month, and he'll be here for another few weeks. The other wives were right, the work load hasn't been nearly as bad this time around. He actually comes home at a decent time most nights, and he was actually able to take a week of leave for Christmas. We had our first Christmas together, and it was wonderful. I can't think of a thing I would have done to change it. We're coming up on our first New Year's Eve together, and I'm so excited.
I guess the point of this post, is that I finally realized that yes, my husband was married to the Navy before he married me, and so now, so am I. Uncle Sam is going to be calling the shots in my life for a long time now, and I just have to deal. I am going to have to learn to do things for myself, take care of myself, and be happy WITH MYSELF. Jason is my love, and he does everything he can to make me happy, but I'm going to have to step up and work on that, too. I can't sit around this house and just pine away for him while he's gone. I'VE GOT THINGS TO DO!
So thats where this blog comes in. I'll be working at the school, and I'm sure I'll get some funny stories off the kids; they never fail to entertain. I'll be hanging out with the other ladies, a few of which I've become good friends with, and I bet there will be some adventures there. When Jason is home, we're going to try and do some traveling, so I'll have great stories to tell. During all of this, I'm going to be working on my self.. my body, my mind, my heart. I hope to have lots of new things to report with the new year coming on. I want to start this next decade off right!
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