Kailua Family Photography || Deployments and life after

Kailua Family Photography on Oahu, Hawaii – Deployments and Life After

Kailua Family Photography

Kailua Family Photography

Shortly after our big move to Hawaii, we found out my husband would be deploying within months.  Being a military spouse, you are always somewhat prepared for this news.  I think it is always in the back of our minds.    Although it’s a thought we don’t like to think about, because, let’s be honest, deployments suck, it’s definitely something I wanted to be prepared for.

Kailua Family Photography

 

Our significant others can get the news any day about their next upcoming deployment. Trainings start and the closer we get to deployments dates, the less of our service member we see.  I had been away from my husband for months at a time before.  Bootcamp, SOI, and then onto his schooling for Security Forces, which was delayed for several months before the schooling actually started.  During all of this, we were apart. This all added up to more time away from each other than an actual deployment would be.  

 

So, why would this deployment be any harder if it was less time apart? Well, what was different about us being away from each other this time was that we now had a 1 year old daughter in the mix.

 

I was terrified.  Still a new mother, trying to get the hang of this whole motherhood thing, I was about to be alone with my daughter for 6 months straight. All of the responsibilities were on me.  Like most military families, we don’t have any close family members nearby.  Alex and my family are all at least two flights away – 15+ hours of flying time back to the mainland.  

 

Not only was I about to say “see you later” to the love of my life and better half, I was also taking on the “single-parent” role for 6 months.. 7 days a week.. 24 hours a day.  That’s a lot to swallow.  How could I, alone, take care of my daughter? Luckily, we have a few close friends who helped to get us through this time.

 

Saying see you later was harder than I had ever imagined and of course, I worried the whole time about his and my daughters relationship.  She was growing so fast in those 6 months.  Questions such as, “Would she remember him?”, “Would she be confused at first?”, “Will she go straight up to him or will it take her days/weeks to warm up to him?”, and “How will he react if she doesn’t go straight up to him?”.  These are all common questions not only I, but a lot of military spouses think about during this time.

I hoped and dreamed of my daughter running up to my husband after this deployment. Hugging him, kissing him, and a lot of happy tears and smiles.  My questions were quickly answered the day my husband, Alex, returned from his 6 month deployment.  You can see some of those photos captured by the amazing Rae Marshall Photography here: http://www.raemarshall.com/bowman-homecoming-hawaii-homecoming-photographer/.

I’ll let you be the judge of how quickly Alex and Maci connected after 6 months apart…

 

Kailua Family Photography

Kailua Family Photography

Kailua Family Photography

 

Kailua Family Photography

Kailua Family Photography

Join The List

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore aliqua.

Subscribe

new!