As the cookie monster and I prepare for our adventure in SFAAT Afghan-land, I can't help but think about this same time last year, and how different things are now. This is a post delving into the things I didn't know- and for a large part still don't.
We were brand new to the area and Ft. Bliss. While the other wives were friendly, I felt intimidated by their experience and wisdom, and didn't know how I could ever hope to be like them. Not only were they able to keep it together when the guys left, but they excelled at being temporarily single parents. They were able to set up a play date with one hand, drop the chicklets off at school with the other, cook a three course meal with their left foot (obviously needing the right to stand on), using the big toe on that left foot to change diapers, and magically make themselves up to look FABULOUS just through sheer willpower. They were superheros.
And then there was...... me. My great feat of courage was telling the cashier to "bite me," after she sneered at my public display of bawling in the Walmart check-out line. My superhero power was my unchallenged ability to pack on more weight than Dom Deluise, without the slightest bit of effort. And the whole time, all I could think was "How am I going to get through this?" I thought about those other women, the epitome of strength and grace..... and then me, the plump, red headed stepsister with braces.
But as the cookie monster and I prepare for the start of our second deployment, I'm realizing that everyone starts somewhere. This time, I'm staying in El Paso, and I'll be living in our house, alone by myself. Instead of willing time to slow down so that he doesn't have to leave, I'm anticipating getting the goodbyes over with, so that homecoming can come next. And just like that..... the braces are gone. I can only assume that with time, the plump red headedness will dissipate into something less grotesque.
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