Friday, May 6, 2011

POEM: THE MILITARY SPOUSE



Military Spouse Day has been observed since May 23, 1984, when a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan recognized the profound importance of spouse commitment to the readiness and well-being of military members.

The US Secretary of Defense standardized the date by declaring the Friday preceding Mother’s Day as Military Spouse Day.

The Military Spouse

When the good Lord was creating military spouses, He was into His sixth day of overtime.

An Angel appeared and said, "You're having a lot of trouble on this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied, "Have you ever seen the regulations? It has to be completely independent, must be sponsored to get on base, have the qualities of both mother and father during deployments; Be a perfect hostess to four or 40, handle emergencies without military orders, cope with the flu and move around the world, have a kiss that cures anything from a child's torn valentine to a soldier's weary day, have the patience of a saint when waiting for the unit to return stateside, and have six pairs of soft hands."

The Angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pair of hands? No way!"

And the Lord answered, "Don't worry. We'll make other military spouses to help. Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem - it's the heart. It must swell with pride, sustain the ache of separation, beat soundly when it's too tired to do so, be large enough to say 'I understand' when it doesn't, and say 'I love you,' regardless."

"Lord," said the Angel, touching his sleeve gently, "go to bed. You can finish that tomorrow."

"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm too close to creating something unique. Already I have one who can heal itself when sick, feed unexpected guests who are stuck in the area due to bad weather, and wave goodbye to its spouse from a pier or runway and understand it's important to the country that the spouse leave."

The Angel circled the model of the military spouse very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough," the Lord said excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this being can do or endure!"

"Can it think?" the Angel asked.

"Can it think? It can convert 1400 to 2 p.m.!" the Lord said.

Finally, the Angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear."

"What's it for?" asked the Angel.

"It's for joy, sadness, pain, loneliness and pride," the Lord said.

"You're a genius," said the Angel.

The Lord looked somber and said, "I didn't put it there."

~Author Unknown


Share/Bookmark

No comments:

Post a Comment