All those months I was deployed in the middle east away from my wife and kids. It was several years ago so I had to think back on how I got through without being miserable.
1. First, I was lucky to be deployed with colleagues that became friends. We were tight or grew that way. We were our own support group. Most of us were in the same boat with families so it was understood.
2. Worked a lot! 12+ hours a day.
3. Read a lot of books, played a lot of pinochle and dominoes, and some chess.
4. Wrote letters all the time.
The hard part was reunion. She had become more independant and so had I. We had to really work at becoming "one" again. It seemed I would step on her toes over things that were traditionally mine to do but she had picked up out of need. Plus, she really wanted some alone time after being with the boys 24-7, so I became the baby sitter
. I felt like "is this what she wants from me after 130 days apart?" I got it and completely understand in hind sight.
