I am currently on my fifth deployment, but this one is a little different than the rest. First off, I am not in Iraq or Afghanistan, second I had the option to turn this one down, and third we are somewhere in the Caribbean and Central America. I was alerted to this deployment in August, accepted the opportunity (keeping my wife a part of the decision making process) and deployed in early October, with a return date just prior to Christmas (hopefully).

I returned from Iraq last April, and was confident that I was not deploying again until sometime in 2010, so my wife and I made some long range plans. One of which was to go to Washington D.C. this past October so she could run in the Marine Corps Marathon. Once I accepted the deployment, it became apparent I was going to miss most of the holiday season (again) but I was also going to miss the marathon, which meant more to my wife than me being home for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately she was able to call on some friends and family to join her in D.C. for the marathon, but I was not there, and as they day of the marathon came closer, I was pretty upset that I could not be there for her. However by keeping the lines of communication open, she knows I was there in spirit, and that I was thinking of her all day while she was running. I did have the chance to call her after the race was over to see how she did and lend my support and congratulations.

For me missing time at home for work is nothing new. But it is still hard for me to miss things, like the marathon, that are so important to my wife. A good way for me to overcome this is to make as many good memories with her while I am home by maximizing our time together and making new memories both prior to deployment and when I return. By thinking of these good times we have together, it helps me make it through the tough times, especially when I am missing something that is not only important to my wife, but also to me.