Our Roles Will Reverse. How my Soldier Plans to Handle me being Gone!

We are just under 6 months before I start my thru-hike attempt of the Appalachian Trail. I will be gone for 5-6 months and in fact this will be the first time I have ever left my family to be on my own. Mine and my Soldier’s roles will reverse.

It dawned on me that being a Military Spouse for the past 20 years that I am the one that always held down the fort, both when he was deployed and while he was home.

I’m in charge of budgeting, paying bills, grocery shopping, meal planning, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, scheduling all the doctors and veterinarian appointments, taking kids and dogs to those appointments, and dealing with the kids school.

As I talk to my husband about prepping for my absence I see that same look on his face that I always had before a deployment. We need to get POA’s done, make sure my will is up to date and well teach him how to run a household.

It never really dawned on me that he would go through some of the same feelings I had before a deployment. While I am not going to war, he is still concerned about me being alone in the woods for 5-6 months and has stated that he is going to go nuts with worry on a daily basis.

Some of the questions he has had for me are “what will I do when you are gone”, “where do I send care packages”, and “how do I send a care package”. Sound familiar fellow Military Spouses?

Yes, our roles are about to reverse so to speak. I have assured him that we will sit down and he will learn what bills are due and when, how to pay them, usernames & passwords for everything, important numbers he needs to know, where important paperwork is located, and the addresses of places along the trail that he can a care package to.

This should be interesting for sure. Everyone, please pray for him lol.