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The
News - To Watch or Not?
When my
husband was on his first deployment, I struggled with this. Every
seasoned Army wife told me to turn it off and to never watch it,
especially when he was deployed. I did pretty well with it. The internet
seemed to be my downfall so I had to rearrange my homepage and make sure
I couldn't catch a glimpse of the lead stories just by going to yahoo or
google. If I ever saw "One soldier killed in Iraq/Afghanistan
today", I couldn't help but to click on the link. So it was best if
it was out of my sight. During
the first deployment, I was flipping through the channels and saw the
headline "Special Operations Soldiers Killed". I wasn't
looking for the news and had no intention of seeing that but I did. And
my heart stopped. I hadn't heard from my husband in several days and my
mind started racing. I did my best to convince myself that my husband
was fine, that there were thousands of special ops soldiers and that the
report had not even specified that it was Army, much less a unit. But
the damage was done and I knew my heart and stomach would not feel right
again until I heard his voice. And luckily I did hear it again. I was so
happy and relieved to hear his voice but at the same time felt guilty
because that meant someone else wouldn't get that phone call. It's a
very strange set of emotions. From
that point forward, I decided no news at all. I would no longer randomly
flip through channels on television and I deliberately skipped the news
channels all together. I set my homepage on the internet to my yahoo so
I could decide what would be on the page and what wouldn't be. If
someone called and said "Did you hear what happened in XYZ
today?" I'd reply no and don't tell me. In restaurants, I'd sit
with my back to the television and I'd leave the room when I was
visiting friends or family and they stopped on the news channel. This
was great for helping me to keep my sanity. But it also meant I knew
absolutely nothing about what was going on in the world. It was a
sacrifice I was willing to make. As Army wives, we have all heard the
saying that no news is good
news and I have to agree. In the sense that the statement was originally
meant as well as that it was good for me not to be exposed to it.
RELATED LINKS: Dealing With The Emotional Roller Coaster of Deployment Deployments can take a toll on the Army family both physically and emotionally. Find out what to expect during the deployment cycle.
Staying Connected During a Deployment It can be difficult to feel connected to your soldier when he's so far away. Use these tips to stay connected.
Scrapbooking - A Great Way to Stay Busy Stay busy and enjoy time with friends by scrapbooking. Best of all, it is a readymade gift for your soldier when he returns home.
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