more water - and a wake up call

Yesterday (Sunday) I finished my confined water diving. We learned a few more skills mostly pretty easy ones. A lot of taking you gear on and off under the water. We also had to practice skin diving (diving without gear) and that was pretty hard. He made us keep our weight belts on and I thought I was going to drown!!!! I swallowed so much ocean water yesterday. I was fighting off the urge to puke the whole time! I just knew i was going to be chumming the water. Luckily there was no puking. I'm anxious to get the open water dives done so that I can be done with the class stuff. It is fun and you learn a lot but i know there is more out there to see. We don't go any deeper than 20 feet in class and there is a lot to see at 20 feet. Imagine how much better it is the deeper you go!
One of the girls in my class was really cute. I had the chance to talk with her a lot while we were eating lunch or doing our 10 minute float test. She has been on island for about the same time as me. I assumed she was here with the military because I knew she wasn't Australian or with Continental. When I asked if her husband was Navy or Air force she said that he was Navy and was on a submarine!!!! I told her how cool I thought that was and she agreed and said she was really proud of her husband. The more I talked to her the more I got to know about her everyday life. Sometimes I find myself complaining because Kelly has to work a lot of nights and I'm always up early with the kids. Or if he has to work an island hopper and is gone for four days I just hate it. There are a lot of Navy families in our branch at church and I've realized that I'm pretty lucky. Most of their husbands get on their ships and they are gone for 3 or more weeks at a time!!!! Seeing the navy wives deal with that has made me grateful for having Kelly as much as I have him.
Well, this girl in my class, whose hubby is on the sub has it really bad!!! She said their normal schedule is 6 months on 6 months off..... can you imagine??????? Not seeing your husband for six months at a time?!?!?!?! And sometimes they have to go on "silent" mode where she can't talk on the phone or email him for weeks at a time! She said that his sub has been so busy lately that he isn't getting his 6 months off. She said the longest period of time she has had with him was 2 weeks!!!!!! Just listening to her made me feel really selfish and immature. She recently had a flood in her kitchen. She didn't have a husband to fix it or call the plumber - she had to do it. She doesn't have a dad here either to call over when her hubby isn't around. She does everything on her own. She mowes the lawn, trims the trees and bushes, and does minor repairs around the house. One of her friends, who also has a hubby on the sub, got a flat tire the other day, her fridge and freezer went out, and her water wasn't working. The girl in my class just said "I'll give her my other car, and we will just figure out how to fix all this. We don't have our husbands so we have to take care of each other." She said it so confidently. I know she is sad to not have her husband around, but she didn't complain the whole time I talked to her about it. She said her husband doesn't tell her the scary things about his job so that she won't worry - in return she doesn't complain to him about how long he is gone. She is amazing. All the military wives I know really amaze me. Every time I start to feel sorry for myself now, I know how stupid I'm really being. Not only are the military guys away from home much more than my husband, but often times they are put in very dangerous positions. I have a couple of friends who are pregnant right now and it is very possible that their hubby's will be gone soon after the babies are born!
I wish I could say I no longer feel sorry for myself - because I do. But when I find myself feeling that way I think of all the reminders I have around me or the women who really do run their homes on their own. I really admire those families for their sacrifices. I guess a four day trip is really nothing at all.