Gratitude

I am a military wife, yes. But I am not one of those "thanks to my husband you have freedom" kind of military wives. And believe me, I know these kinds of military wives. When their Hubby is on deployment they march around telling everyone that Hubby is deployed.. expecting gratitude, thanks, and/or pity.

I am proud of my husband, yes. I am proud that he serves his country without question or judgement. But, I guess I just don't expect others to express or even FEEL gratitude for what my husband and even I are doing.

So, when people do express gratitude.. it comes to me as a surprise.. and often.. it makes me emotional.

After Hubby and his Team left for Iraq, I was messaging back and forth with one of the other wives and she said that she was holding up well.. other than breaking into tears while talking to the insurance company.

At the time, I thought WHAT?! You broke down into tears talking to the INSURANCE company? How strange is THAT. I thought that, that is, until I myself finally made MY phone call to the insurance company today to tell them that hubby was deployed and will be a non-operator on our cars for the next 7 months.

Let me explain. This insurance company isn't just ANY insurance company. This insurance company is USAA.. the world's greatest insurance company that (as far as I know) is only available to military families. And, after speaking with them, I understand why my fellow military wife broke into tears. Because... I almost did, too.

Why did I almost cry on the phone with my insurance adjuster?? No, it wasn't because I had to tell her that Hubby is deployed.

I got a tad bit choked up, because at the end of the call my insurance adjuster wished hubby a safe deployment & SINCERELY thanked Hubby and me for serving our country.

It hasn't been often that someone has said this to me. But, I know that when they do, they say it because they mean it. They are under no obligation. For some reason, in their hearts and in their lives, they are truly thankful to the military service members for the sacrifices that they make.

It gets me every time, because it's not something that I expect people to feel or even say.. but it is something that I appreciate.

So. I'm going to flip this around a little bit and say, "Thank you to the people who are thoughtful enough to thank your military servicemembers and their families. You, too, are appreciated"!!

:)