day 134: "no" should've been my answer

Humans tend to want to avoid all the not-so-pleasant parts of life.

(which is why I should've said "no")

Yet humans tend to be drawn to stories of sheer sadness, in an attempt to try and understand

(which is why I said "yes")

You see, a few weeks ago, Aaron was able to get a quick text message to me that he wouldn't be able to talk to me or email for a day or two; that's typical to shut down all communications during certain circumstances. And, having gone through this before, I knew exactly what that meant.

Then yesterday, Aaron explained the story of what had happened. Not far from him. And then the blog he consequently read....one written by that Marine's wife.

I knew I should've let well enough alone.

"Sure, send me the link."

It absolutely tore my heart out.

What she has endured has always been my secret nightmare.

I don't know Mary Dudley. Will probably never meet her. But there is something that knits Marine wives together--a shared love for the same type of person, common experiences, similar fears. You'll have to read her story here. If you read it like me, tears will be streaming down your cheeks by word #2. And for me, they didn't stop falling, even through the end. But at the end, I felt myself nodding in agreement.

"Then I turn my head and I see our kids playing together and laughing and then in that moment, I can do anything because that is what Marine Wives do. We overcome all obstacles. We take the good and the bad. We assess the situation and we do what is needed of us. We hold our heads high, we love enough for two people so that our kids do not feel the loss while daddy is away. We smile. We laugh. We drink lots of coffee and we turn to our fellow Marine Wives and have them hold us up when we don’t think we can stand anymore." (I know I technically should've checked with her to use her words here, but in this case, and already linking to her site, I think I'm okay)

I cannot say it any better than that.

Read her story. Pray her through this, because like she said, she is only at the beginning, even though she's already been through so much.