Someone recently asked ...

what it's like to be a Coast Guard spouse. Tricky question, eh? Seriously, how do you answer that? It was an honest question, a good one at that.

Here are my thoughts. Pardon my rambling.

Being a Coast Guard spouse is being part of an amazing community of people.

I know there are people who will reach out when you think all is lost, your world comes crashing down, your kids need some help or you simply need to borrow something.

I adore my husband for who he is in his uniform and the person he is wearing jeans and chasing our kids around on his days off.

I am honored to have been a part of my husband's career in ways I never imagined.

I cherish the history we have together and look forward to the memories we make every day and with every place we live.

I appreciate the friends who unconditionally offer me an ear when the deployment downs have got me down and offer to cheer me up even when they are in my same shoes.

I love the pride I have being a part of the Coast Guard family to know that we are small and elite and so much more than most people realize as a collective group.

I yearn for my husband to be home when he's not.

I long for him to go away every now and again too.

I am a hopeless romantic who enjoys my heart growing fonder and the honeymoon period that follows a deployment.

I am flexible, even when I don't want to be.

I show understanding on my face, when I want to kick and scream.

I am strong not because I have to be, but because I am.

I'm not too proud to admit it can be hard. I cry.

I laugh because sometimes you just have to.

I'm a single parent playing both parental roles for my kids and juggling everything else at the same time.

I dream about where this journey will take us and hoping that it's not some place forsaken.

I am just a girl who loves her man in blue and that's really all I can do.