A.k.a. How awesome I really am
Like dealing with the emotional aftermath of saying goodbye to my military partner and having to miss him daily wasn’t enough, I have had my fair share of additional shit happening. In the six months that Man has left for training I have dealt with the aftermath of two car incidents (someone reverse parking into the front of the car, and someone rear ending me in at a traffic jam), two rental car incidents (stones through the windshields on the highway), one serious knee injury (my dog tackling me – by accident or on purpose, we’ll never know) and now one bike incident. I get your point Murphy – rest your case please.
And as with everything in life if you ask me – and you will see this running as a red thread through my posts – there is an upside and a downside. The downside, apart from all the logistical hassles, financial pains and countless calls with insurance companies and visits to repairers, is that the hard things in life are even harder when you have to face them on your own. Seldomly have I felt the absence of Man so strongly as when I came home from visit number 33 to the garage. It was on these occasions that I simply wanted someone to sit me down on the couch, give me a big cuddle and make me a cup of tea.
The upside here is that I have discovered how awesome I really am. I am a goddamn superhero. I have always wondered what my talent as a superhero would be and it turns out it is Self Sufficiency. Alright, so maybe that’s a little less cool than being invisible or controlling an indestructible hammer or being a giant iron super robot, but I am still proud to say I am my own hero. I am resilient, courageous, independent and self sufficient. Apart from dealing with the above mentioned, more serious incidents, I can also proudly report that I have single handedly killed a spider (it was a nasty poisonous one, as a lover of all creatures big and small I do let the nice ones live), removed a wasp nest from my verandah (with my dog’s plastic tennis ball thrower and a can of hairspray – not very Steve Irwinesk), duct taped the shit out of a broken clothesline and fixed a broken garden fence with shoelaces (perhaps creativity is another super talent of mine). And all of that without having to squeeze into a tight latex outfit or wear my underwear on the outside. Pretty awesome right?
To be honest, I think it was sometimes easy to forget how Self Sufficient, Strong and Independent I really am when Man is around. Partially because sharing the load simply makes things much more bearable, and partially because I automatically delegated anything that required a technical or practical skill set. So, I invite all of you who are reading this and are in a similar position: let’s use this time as a wonderful opportunity to (re)discover our Superhero alter egos! I really have found that I am much stronger than I realized I was, and can handle even the hardest curve-balls life throws. And I am sure if you are reading this and you are in a similar position, so can you. So, for all of us that have to miss our partners, fix our own fences, kill our own spiders, curse at repairers and feed our (fur) kids: we are goddamn superheroes! I salute you, my fellow Wonder Womans and Supermans!
I feel like I need a massage after all this intense patting on the back. Luckily Man booked me a massage as a gift this week – such an incredibly thoughtful surprise. So allow me to finish with this little tip for all you serving members out there: consider booking your partner a massage when you are deployed. Because all those Wonder Womans and Supermans totally deserve it (plus it might be the only physical contact they get whilst you’re away).
Now give me a scotch. I’m starving. 1
* My furry superhero – Maxi in her Marvel shirt ----->
1) for the Marvel noobs amongst you: that’s a Tony Stark reference
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