My Cindy Bear!

Well, today I thought I'd introduce you all to my beautiful wife Cindy. Isn't she pretty? We've been married now for 18 years (19 in November) and our relationship keeps getting better. Cindy is my very best friend. We have so much fun when we are together. She really is my better half. She has worked very hard to put up with me during our marriage and I really appreciate all that she puts up with.

Pretty, isn't she?

And Silly!

Cindy with our Grandson Dylan.

One of the greatest things about Cindy is that she is so successful at that most difficult of careers, being the wife of a military officer. People think that serving in the military is difficult. Actually that's the easy part. We get told that we have to go somewhere to fight someone. We pack our bags, get on the plane and go. The military takes care of our housing and food and all of that. All we have to do is show up and do the job. The wives, on the other hand, have the difficult job. They are the ones sitting at home, thinking all is well, then the phone rings. "Hey honey, guess what? I'm going to Baghdad for 6 months. I leave in 3 weeks!"


I can't imagine all that goes through a wife's mind at that time. But certainly it starts to quickly shift gears. Suddenly she is going to be responsible for everything that happens for the next 6 months. Taking care of the house and kids, paying the bills, caring for the yard, fixing the cars, calling the plumber, etc. And at the end of the day, when their husbands call from half-way around the world, they make themselves sound as if "everything is going well, no problems, I'm not even tired right now, tell me all about what's happening over there." Of course, anything that can go wrong will, while we're deployed. The car breaks, the basement floods, the dog needs to be put to sleep. The wife takes care of the situation, then tells us about after it's no longer an issue. "Thanks for doing that, Cindy, now here's what I did today."


For the next 6 months (or however long the husband is deployed) the wife not only runs everything, but there is one other factor that must really fray the nerves. Every time the phone rings at an odd time or there is an unexpected knock on the door, they have to wonder if this is the time that they will open the door to see the commander and chaplain in their dress uniforms coming to inform them that they are now a widow. Here's a flag "on behalf of a grateful nation."


Then when the deployment is over, we come home and tell our war stories and show off our medals. Our wives simply melt back into the background, just happy that we're home safe. They don't ask for any credit for the huge job they did while we were gone. They are just glad that they are not alone anymore.


So, to Cindy, I love you, you are my hero. Thank you for all you do. You've given me the greatest 18 years of my life and I look forward spending the rest of eternity with you.