19 days, wow that seems like a long time.

Bride and I have been together a long time, we met in 88 and got married in 1990 and I was in the United States Navy until 1993. We spent 189 days apart once and we were routinely apart for months at a time. I look back and wonder how we did it. I cannot imagine being apart for 189 days now. Those were the days before email and the proliferation of portable electronic devices that allow people to stay connected 24x7x365. When we were out to sea the best we had was “mars” (Military Auxiliary Radio System) radio calls where you had to say over when you were done speaking. That seems so archaic to me now looking back – hahaha

I remember my last Med Cruise in 92-93, it sucked. Bride was working for Barnett Banks and working 60-70 hours a week and I was gone. It was much harder on her than it was on me. I had folks cleaning my house, other folks cooking my food and so on and so on. Bride was at home having to handle all her normal tasks but also taking care of all the other things that I used to do. I remember toward the end of that cruise we were both road weary from the separation and there was a “blowup”. We had pulled into Sicily on our way home. It was very close to the last port we hit. I for the life of me can not remember what port it was, I have even been staring at a map of Sicily. So work that day was tough, it had been a tough day and all I wanted to do was go out on the town and call Bride and come back to the ship and go to sleep.

So I ride the bus out to the drop off point and it just happens to be in front of a hotel. Perfect I thought, there will phones in a nice lobby. In I go and find the phones, like always they are out of the way and on the way towards the bathrooms. So I call up Bride and she had had a bad day as well with work. It was 5 am her time, and she was already at work and running on one coffee. So we are talking about how close we are getting and how great it is going to be to be home again. I did not even notice at the time a group of Women walked by on their way to the bathroom, they were young so they were talking and laughing. It was towards the end of our conversation and we said our goodbyes.

Well, unbeknownst to me she had heard the “40 laughing Italian Sluts” giggling and laughing on the way to the restrooms and had convinced herself that I was out “living it up” in Sicily with the “laughing Italian Sluts” and before reason could invade her anger she whipped out a letter and put it in the mail. She was selling the house, leaving Florida and going back to Texas and I could have everything in the house. Before that letter could traverse the Atlantic Ocean and find the Aegis Cruiser, USS Gettysburg with the hull number of CG64, we pulled into another port. When we talked next she was still upset about my slutty girlfriends and their incessant laughing.

Once we worked though something that I did not even know existed we realized just how hard 6 month cruises were. For those going now it has to still be hard but the ability to communicate on a more regular basis has to make it somewhat easier to avoid the laughing Italian Sluts situations. I never did have the heart, or courage, to remind her I was on the island of Sicily and while close to Italy they would have been, at least technically, 40 laughing Sicilian Sluts. I tell that story to demonstrate that the sacrifices our military asks its members and their family’s to make is mighty high. Also it proves that no matter how good a relationship is and no matter if you believe absence makes the heart grow fonder that separation from your loved ones is HARD!!

Forward ahead to now. So anyway, I am getting ready for the pilgrimage to the morally bankrupt hell hole in the desert of Nevada, or more commonly known as Vegas for work. I have to say right up front – I HATE THAT PLACE. I do not drink, I do not gamble and I am not chasing any laughing Italian, or Sicilian women so the town hold little for me. Sure I have seen Freemont street, I have seen some pretty cool shows and the first trip was interesting. Now it is nothing but drudgery for me, the conference I go to is a technical affair with a bunch of engineers. Strangely enough, this is the part of the trip I enjoy, hangin’ with my kind of folks. This trip will be 5 days, the longest one was 11 and that REALLY SUCKED!

Well with me going there Bride decided she wanted to go to Texas to hang out with her family. Cool idea I thought, we got someone to house sit the animals and we are ready. Well after the tickets were purchased and we start out planning – supplies would be needed, trips to the airport scheduled and all the other things that happen before a trip. Most times the couple is at least going on the trip together. Well after all that we start talking about it more and it turns out that we will be separated for 19 days straight. Does not seem like much but that is the longest we have been separated since I got out of the Navy.

So this Friday Bride will be riding a jet plane out to Dallas, Texas to start her mini vacation without me. The following Tuesday I will be making my way to the southwestern corner of Nevada. I was in the northwestern part of the state a few months ago on work as well but that was only for 3 days. She will be amongst family for the entire time, I on the other hand will be in Vegas and at home alone. She has already told me that what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas as well as laying out some other ground rules in the game of marriage. I do have a full understanding of what the word “is” means and there was no room for any ambiguity in the definition.

I am missing her already and one thing we used to do we are not anymore. When we knew I was getting ready to leave on the ship, the days leading up to my departure were always weird. We would, almost purposely I think, start nick picking at each other. We never really understood it but I think we figured it out towards the end of my enlistment. We would nick pick in an attempt to separate ourselves before I left, maybe in an attempt to make the leaving easier. Seems stupid but leaving for 189 days is a stupid thing so we had that going for us. Seems weird that we are going to be apart for 19 days. I do not really like the thought of it. I am glad she is going to be getting some time with the family but I am somewhat possessive and I will miss her terribly.

Well just so you know there are folks staying at my house and they do have access to all the weapons I have stored there, so I would not consider taking this opportunity to rob my house. It could wind up like the scene from Scarface, “say hello to my little friend”