Yesterday was filled with just about every emotion imaginable. I was able to experience the joy of another shooting another homecoming through the OpLove program and the high of seeing my 49ers kicking-ass in the post season after so many disappointing seasons. I, also, felt sadness and heartache. I captured those moments of a fellow army spouse on camera and felt them all at the same time. Kinda crazy how it doesn’t even have to be you who can’t find your soldier in the sea of people and you still know exactly how she feels. I heard my client say something, I don’t even remember what, but I turned around to see where she was going. It could have been something that would have helped tell the story of her day. I saw her hugging her friend, and I didn’t even need to go over there to see what was up, I knew what the concern was about. At mine and my husband’s first homecoming, it was a pain in the ass to find my hubby. It wasn’t until after everyone I knew had found their soldier, that I found mine. Before I found him, I felt shear panic, heartache, disappointment, etc. When I saw those two ladies standing there, my heart sank and all of those feelings I felt almost 5 years ago, came back in an instant.
Yesterday’s homecoming wasn’t my first one, but it was the first one that I almost lost it and broke down at. When my soldier is home it’s so much easier to get through shooting these homecomings. I have never had to deal with all of the blah emotions I deal with when he’s gone until yesterday. The army spouse that I met and snapped these few images of yesterday blogged about her emotional roller coaster. Figured since I managed to capture her raw emotions on camera I would share her blog post too. Being married to the military has it’s ups, and they are GREAT! when they happen, but you also have to deal with the downs, and to put it bluntly, they sucks ass!! I appreciate everything that I have experienced due to being married to the military. I try my best not to take anything for granted and live in the moment as much as possible. Most people focus on the soldiers and how war affects them. I feel like less light is shed on the family and how war affects them. It’s tough on both ends, and I’m not here to debate who has it worse, but being on the other side of the fence and having felt similar emotions, I felt it was appropriate to share her story.
The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.
12 comments