The first few days of Ian's deployment were surreal. The first
steps of a long journey don't feel any different from the first steps
of a walk around the block. Everything felt normal with an underlying
sense that it shouldn't.
After a couple of weeks we were
in a new and fairly predictable routine. That felt good, like I was in
control of things, and Ian being gone wasn't going to be too
disruptive. We could miss Ian, but still lead our lives just fine. It
was inconvenient but doable.
Somewhere about a month
in is when the true effects of having a deployed spouse start to hit.
Certain things began to get away from me at about the three week mark
and I started to get frazzled. I may have a handle on most things
inside the house, but the outside is another story. There is nowhere
in my schedule to do anything with the yard. I would make a mental
note on the walk from the house to the car that the hedges looked awful
and the peonies needed to be cut down and the mulberry tree that seemed
to be growing right out of the foundation of the garage needed to be
chopped back into submission. But when? Quinn is next to me
practically every minute, and between shuttling girls around (to school
and violin and choir and birthday parties) and running my business,
there is just enough time left to go grocery shopping and do other
basic errands. Something had to give and that something was the yard.
Luckily,
I know incredible people. I think we all do, but most of us are never
in a circumstance to call on them for anything.
My
neighbor from across the street offered to mow my lawn, which he did on
a Sunday morning and I was grateful. When I came home with the kids
later in the day, the hedges were also trimmed and the garden cleaned
up and the pots overturned. The house didn't look abandoned anymore
and I was really happy. That bit of help came at a time when I really
needed it, and I sent a note across the street with Aden to thank him
for doing so much. My neighbor called a minute later saying he
couldn't take credit for the additional yard work because he hadn't
been sure what he should touch in the garden. It was Garden Fairies.
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