1. Keep Yourself Busy! Unless you are someone who enjoys being alone, I would suggest you make lots of plans! I work a full time job, so Monday - Friday I stay pretty busy...but that first 2 weeks that Kip was gone I was a mess (He was gone for 10 days straight - no coming home at all!). I thought I could handle being by myself...working around the house...playing with the dog...just doing whatever I wanted to do. Nope. Did not enjoy one bit of it. The Monday he left, I cried all night long. I couldn't do anything without thinking of him being gone. That Tuesday, my best friend invited me to come to one of her student's baseball game. I went with her and her 2 kids and enjoyed myself! Wednesday night I had a meeting at work, but then Thursday..oh Thursday. It was a ROUGH day! I was just so depressed and sad all day! I guess I was just really missing my hubby. Then the weekend FLEW by! Helped my mom out at my brother's basketball tournament Friday and Saturday. Sunday, Mom helped me clean my house, then we spent the evening at my aunt's house. The next few days flew by & then - Wednesday came and KIP WAS HOME!! Now, every Monday night - Wednesday night I try to stay busy - whether it is going to my best friend's house and spending time with her and her kids, hanging out with my parents and my family, or just doing something on my own (lots of shopping and going to the tanning bed...maybe cleaning a little....and watching 19 kids and Counting - obsessed with that show!). It gets easier each day! Only 8 more weeks!
2. Communicate!! It was hard on me at first, because if something happened that I wanted to tell Kip about that couldn't wait until we got home in the evenings, I would usually just call of text him! If I just wanted to talk to him or he wanted to talk to me, we could just call each other. Not the case with the academy! He cannot have his cell phone with him at all during the day. It has to stay in his room, so I only get to talk to him for about 30 seconds each morning (just to say hey and have a good day) and then at night once he gets back to his room (around 7:30 or 8pm). I will text him occasionally during the day to tell him something if I need to, but I know I wont get a response back. So at night, we do most of our communicating. It is hard to do that sometimes, because he has a roommate at the academy, so there isn't any alone time. We talk mostly through text messages, because it is easier that way. But just remember to communicate with each other while he is gone!
3. Encourage Him! Always be encouraging when you talk to him. Send him little messages of encouragement throughout the day. I try to be so positive when I talk to Kip, because what is doing is HARD work. He is stressed, hates leaving home, hates being away from me, having to deal with people yelling at him, doing tons of push-ups, pulling 13-14 hour days, getting very little sleep, constantly having to study on his "off" time. I try to be positive and encouraging...and I tried to not let me see my upset (that first 10 days he was gone) because he says it makes it even harder on him knowing I am upset. Don't complain about every little thing that happened to you during the day when you talk to him at night....talk about positive things. Let him know how proud you are of him and how you have faith in him that he can get through this! It will help both of you!
4. Make Time for Each Other When He is Home! When Kip comes home each week, he unloads all his stuff and gives me a PILE of dirty clothes that I have to wash within 2 days, so he can pack up again. I spend a lot of time washing clothes on the weekends...but at least he is HOME. He had a short weekend a few weeks ago. He got Memorial Day off, so he had to make that day up on Friday of that week. He didn't get home until late Friday evening and as soon as he got home, we headed to a friend's house. We spent the majority of the night there, came home, and
5. PRAY!! This is a BIG one....pray for him, pray for you, pray for the instructors teaching the classes, pray for all of his classmates, and pray for his department. Right now, Kip doesn't really know what he will be doing once he graduates from the academy. He may work on the road, work as an SRO, work in the office....we really don't know, so I am praying that God will put him where he wants him to be...whether it be a school, on the road (hopefully not!), in the office, wherever!
It is not easy being a part of the LEO family...but that is what it is - A FAMILY! Very few people know what it is like to send your husband off to work, unsure of whether he will return to you after his shift. LEO's encounter things that most of us could not even imagine seeing and encountering, so ALWAYS pray for your LEO, his/her partner and department. Hug him/her a little tighter and kiss him/her a little longer each time he/she leaves. You never know when it may be your last hug, kiss, "see ya later", or "I love you!".
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