This past weekend, Preston and I had the opportunity to attend a workshop for couples having recently gone through a deployment. We didn't know what to expect beforehand. Assuming it would only be the guys he spent his recent deployment with to Afghanistan, we were quite surprised to see Marines from all over the country there. While the military has its ups and downs for sure, I'd consider this all-expense paid weekend an "up"--if for no other reason than the fact that we spent it with some friends who are near and dear to our hearts.
I was particularly impressed with the attention to detail throughout the weekend. The group putting on the Returning Warriors Workshop did an excellent job of making it personal. This is what we found upon arriving to our hotel room:
For the job my husband has as a Reconnaissance Marine (which is the special operations unit division of the Marine Corps), deployments can be rather dangerous. Fortunately however, he and the group he was deployed with were lucky as to not experience any extremely traumatizing deaths--and for that we are grateful. Nonetheless, as any family who has gone through a deployment knows, no matter how outwardly traumatic it is, the experience is life-changing, for everyone.
