Friendship is a really, really important. Friends are the family member that we choose. They reflect some the qualities that we don’t have, perhaps the qualities that we wish that we had. Our friends are the ones who console us, buy us food when we are broke, and make us laugh. We LOVE our friends. That’s why when one friend goes away on a deployment, it can be a very tumultuous and a hardship that affects us for the rest of our life.
When a friend gets ready to deploy, the same questions tend to pop through everyone’s minds. Some of those questions include:
What is is it like?
Why do THEY have to go?
What if something happens to them?
When will I see them again?
For anyone who has ever been faced with a deployment, you have more than likely experiences sleepless night with these questions rolling around in your head, but there is one thing to know. Focus on the good! Have a beach day with your deploying friend, take them out to dinner, or go on a hike. Don’t treat them any differently. Treat them the same as you had been treating them before. They already have a lot on their plate, and stressing out about their friend worrying about them is not going to help them out any.
Your friend is risking their life because they love their country, and they want to make it better, safer, and want to see a prosperous future, for the whole world. Your friend is doing what they believe is right. They are taking care of business. They are extremely selfless and care more about their country than about their own selves because they’re selflessly risking their life to protect yours, as well as everyone around you. Their selfless action should be honored with a beer, a dinner, a cook out, or something of that matter. They deserve one last hoorah before they’re sent off to war. A send off to remind them that they are the ones who should be celebrated and that the entire time that they are overseas, on deployment, that they will be prayed for, and thought about. That the soldier will not need to worry about assimilating backing into society when they return because they are going to be accepted back with open arms.
While they’re gone, keep talking to them. Keep in contact. While they are away, a lot of things are going to go through their mind, and more often than not, they can begin to worry. Worry about things that they cannot control, especially things like finances and people's health. Just reassure them that everything is alright, but be honest with them. If something is wrong, tell them that it is wrong, but tell them why it is wrong and that it is under control. They will worry for a little bit, but they will, once they realize that the situation is in capable hands, stop worrying about it.
And when they return, catch them up to everything that they have missed, and make sure that they feel welcomed back home.
God Bless the troops.
