fling with her own wings

As military spouses we spend so much time worried about our husbands, living our lives around them.  Aside from a few grips now and then (no one likes waiting months for your furniture to arrive at your new crappy duty station) we are happy to do it.  Like any other marriage we love them men we've chosen to spend our lives with and if putting up with deployments and moves is what we have to do to be with them so be it.

When they are away we worry.  We worry about that next phone call.  We worry about missions.  We worry about what we are doing on the home front, is it enough to make him proud.  We worry if they will come back and then we worry about when.  We worry about who will be coming back to us.  We worry about them worrying about us.  With all of this we forget that we are human too.

I've written about Laura before, she found my blog during Doc's first deployment.  Her husband was going through his first deployment.  She inspired me with not just her dedication to her husband but also her dedication to herself.  I've always been in awe of runners since my shins make it very hard for me.  She was one of the first to congratulate me on my pregnancy with TC and has always been supportive.  Her blog entries always made me smile and many times actually laugh out loud.

When she told us she was sick last November it was shocking.  She's one of the strong ones.  She runs and takes care of her self - hell, she's an army wife we hear all the time how strong we are.  I guess our bodies and our minds often aren't on the same page.  Even from the hospital she has been a source of strength and inspiration.  I encourage you to check out her CaringBridge page if you haven't.

Today her father posted that after fighting many obstacles since her bone marrow transplant in August that the fight is almost over, Laura cannot fight any more.  My heart is just breaking for her entire family, especially her husband Matt. 

Although I never met Laura face to face the mil spouse community is a tight knit one and the mil spouse blogger community is even tighter.  When I speak about her I call her a friend because that is truly what she feels like.

I know you will never read this Laura but thank you for everything.  Your grace and strength were obvious well before your diagnosis.  You have touched my life in a way you will never know and I will be eternally grateful.  You fought a good fight and now is the time to rest.  You named your blog "Alis volat propriis" which is Latin for "She Flies With Her Own Wings" and soon you will.