A Military Wife

`The average age of the military wife/girlfriend is 20 years old.
`She isn't old enough to buy a beer, but is old enough to manage the entire household.
`She probably never saw herself loving a man who was in the military, but she loves him regardless.
`Her penmanship has improved over the last few months, due to excessive letter writing.
`She cries alot, because she misses the man she swore to love. Her life isn't complete without him.
`She looks very tired, because of her many sleepless nights either waiting for a call that never came or one that did and just because she heard his voice, she is too overjoyed to sleep.
`As a wife, she is classified as a dependent, but she is completely independent.
`She tends to her household, her kids, her school work, and her job, all without her husband.
`She manages a smile, even though inside she's crying.
`She understands that the man she loves has to go far away.
`She understand that he can be taken from her in a moments notice.
`She feels a great sense of pride and probably cries whenever she hears the National Anthem, sees a flag blowing in the breeze, or watches the news and hears about another death in Iraq, worrying that it might be him.
`She goes weeks without a call or a letter, but she writes him whenever she gets a free moment.
`She knows how to convert civilian time into military time.
`She knows how to iron his clothes and how to get the creases just right.
`Before he left she used to complain if she didn't see him for a day or two, but now she gets annoyed when she hears someone complaining about not seeing their boyfriends.
`She may not have seen him for months but she remembers everything about him, every scar he has, the way he smells, the sound of him sleeping.
`She has every picture of him and them out and in frames, she stares at them for hours on end and has read every letter he's written at least 40 times.
`Even though her man is half a world away, she manages to go on with her life, as he would want her to.
`You may not know what she looks like, but as soon as you see her you'll know that her husband is a world away without even having to speak to her.
`She's the one who's half frowning half smiling, she has at least one Support Our Troops pin that she wears and one displayed on her car.
`Half her wardrobe is based on his military branch. She never knew that could love the color camouflage, green, tan, navy blue, red or black so much.
`Next time you see her, thank her for what her and the man she loves is doing. She will greatly appreciate it and she will smile the rest of the day.