First, some background for the non-coasties among the bunch. GEO is the term used to describe when the family of an active duty spouse does not live with them at their unit, sometimes it's mandatory as in the case of unaccompanied tours like Bahrain or an isolated billet without family housing. Other times, as in our case, the family maintains a permanent home and the service member resides on the unit and makes trips home as often as possible- in our case it is generally every weekend when the boat is in port. So, it's six months of underway, followed by six months of weekends.
Two years ago we bought our dream home, truly our forever home. It was everything that our family wanted, everything that we had scoured the better part of five states trying to find. Unfortunately the timing wasn't great. But, we had to make it work. So, the kids and I maintain our little farm, going about a "normal" life from Monday through Friday and, or course, all summer long while Jon is gone, and Jon does his important job aboard the USCGC Healy.
Back to the clocks and paper.
We just passed our one year mark. In that year so much has changed. It has been very hard on all of us, though I think for the most part the kids are doing really well- we work really hard to maintain normalcy for them. But, I've come to really understand how much of a partnership Jon and I have. We rely on each other to make our dreams come true. He is really my best friend, and when he is gone so much, I really miss him. I think we are both really proud of each other and how well we've done with it. But, I also know that we are both really tired and really ready for it to be over.
Enter the clock. That convenient little time piece. The tool by which we mark time- hour by hour, minute by minute. Really, in no other time in my life have I been so intensely focused on the passage of time. How much longer? It seems to be my internal mantra. I've become almost intolerant of calendars- though they guide me through the maze of activities that inundate our lives. But, there is something heartbreaking about having to turn months upon months over before you know that your loved one will be home again. And when he is home, it's only for hours. It's never enough time.
And now the paper. That humble, ancient material. It captures our doodles and our written word. Granted much of our communication has been via the virtual world. But, when I think of writing I think of paper, and I can assure you that I've done more writing in the last year than at nearly any other time in my life. It's not been the creative or the academic that I probably should have been concentrating more upon, it's been the two or three line email that asks advice for something as mundane as gas for the mower. Or the 5 am drama-rich, heart rending varieties- I like to get up very early in the summer when it is still very quiet and the sun is just starting to really shine- but I also miss Jon the most right then. We go for weeks and weeks without being able to talk to each other, so the written word becomes the only source of communication. Email is our modern day message in a bottle, thankfully it usually is more dependable.
Clocks and paper. Time and communication. I think that these two items, modern and traditional, represent with simple ease the fundamental challenges with our GEO life. Sadly, as we march headlong into our second GEO year I know that my challenges with time, and my connection to my husband through writing will be just as vital as they were during the first year. But, maybe over that year I'll have the chance to figure out how the heck I can incorporate cotton and china into the description of what will hopefully be our last GEO year.
May time always be on your side, and may you always have plenty of paper for capturing your thoughts upon.
-Elaine
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