'Help for Heroines'. Request from Good Housekeeping magazine

abijanzo

Sheesh there are some cynical people on this board.

As a wife who has 'sat at home watching Coronation St and doing the weekly shop' whilst her husband was at the the forefront of Op Telic back when we all expected Sadam to blow us off the planet with his nuclear weaponds of mass destruction I can tell you your sarcastic comments are both uninformed and distasteful.
It takes a lot to see your husband leave for a foreign land not to hear from him for weeks on end and to spend your time nervously watching sky news for any clues as to how things are unfolding. To wait with baited breath every morning to see if the postman has a beloved blue envelope? To hold your breath with every unexpected knock on the door and to have the unthinkable thought run through your mind 'are they coming with bad news?' only to find the gas man wants to read the meter!
It's feeling your heart stop when you hear on the national news that a member of your loved ones battalion has been blown to pieces and feeling guilty at the relief you feel when you hear it is somebody elses husband.
It's not living, it's waiting, fearing but hoping, it's praying. It's a life in limbo. It's carrying on regardless and putting on a brave face. It's writing blueys that are positive and full of good news to your own hero when all you want to do is cry and tell them how much you wish they would come home and leave the God damn forces to someone elses husband, at the same time feeling proud of his sacrifice and bravery.
So no, maybe not a heroine in the strictest definition, but brave? Yes! my God Yes!
How dare you be so flippant.

And as my own hero is off to Afghanistan again soon, this time it won't just be me who's the 'heroine' but we now have a 5 year old heroine and a 3 year old hero too. They will be waiting for their daddy and in their own way are doing there part too.

Edit: The main post I was referring to seems to have been withdrawn or deleted. I should think so too!

Errata

abijanzo - well said :T
Best wishes to you and yours, I hope you all stay safe.

Marker_2

BLT wrote: »

Aint gonna happen, can you see a mens magazine doing an article about the 'heroes' who sit at home while their girlfriends are on operations. I also doubt they would get many volunteers to come forward.

The idea is even more ludicrous than calling a women sat at home watching coronation street and doing the weekly shop a 'heroine' :rotfl:

Oh you are a miserable git arent you. The word "hero" gets bandied about for soldiers as well doesnt it, even those that sit in super camps for 6 months behind a desk, the nearest they'll get to gunfire is a day on the ranges .... but thats just part and parcel of it, they are out there doing "their bit" and all that.

You can't be stupid enough to realise that "Help for Heroines" is a play on words???? Maybe those left behind are not heroes, but they sure as hell are the backbone to the majority of the men out there.

To the OP, a great idea, and one I would enjoy reading

kerry49

abijanzo wrote: »

Sheesh there are some cynical people on this board.

As a wife who has 'sat at home watching Coronation St and doing the weekly shop' whilst her husband was at the the forefront of Op Telic back when we all expected Sadam to blow us off the planet with his nuclear weaponds of mass destruction I can tell you your sarcastic comments are both uninformed and distasteful.
It takes a lot to see your husband leave for a foreign land not to hear from him for weeks on end and to spend your time nervously watching sky news for any clues as to how things are unfolding. To wait with baited breath every morning to see if the postman has a beloved blue envelope? To hold your breath with every unexpected knock on the door and to have the unthinkable thought run through your mind 'are they coming with bad news?' only to find the gas man wants to read the meter!
It's feeling your heart stop when you hear on the national news that a member of your loved ones battalion has been blown to pieces and feeling guilty at the relief you feel when you hear it is somebody elses husband.
It's not living, it's waiting, fearing but hoping, it's praying. It's a life in limbo. It's carrying on regardless and putting on a brave face. It's writing blueys that are positive and full of good news to your own hero when all you want to do is cry and tell them how much you wish they would come home and leave the God damn forces to someone elses husband, at the same time feeling proud of his sacrifice and bravery.
So no, maybe not a heroine in the strictest definition, but brave? Yes! my God Yes!
How dare you be so flippant.

And as my own hero is off to Afghanistan again soon, this time it won't just be me who's the 'heroine' but we now have a 5 year old heroine and a 3 year old hero too. They will be waiting for their daddy and in their own way are doing there part too.

Edit: The main post I was referring to seems to have been withdrawn or deleted. I should think so too!

Well said. With tears streaming down my face, as I understand and feel every single word you have written. My hubby is currently in afghan, and the hardest part, hearing my 3 year old daughter cry herself to sleep at night as she has nt seen her Daddy and does nt understand that Daddy will come home or when she ll see him again.

To every service spouse male or female, we know the reality of being left at home, the heartache, the torments but most of all the god forsaking fear. So yes, it is nice for GH to recognise this and I look forward to reading the issue.

Veryskint

BLT wrote: »

Aint gonna happen, can you see a mens magazine doing an article about the 'heroes' who sit at home while their girlfriends are on operations. I also doubt they would get many volunteers to come forward.

The idea is even more ludicrous than calling a women sat at home watching coronation street and doing the weekly shop a 'heroine' :rotfl:

You just have no idea. If you dont know anything about something, perhaps keep your opinion to yourself.

Having your spouse away in a warzone, having a small heart attack everytime someone knocks on the door, working and looking after the kids while you have this steady undercurrent of fear and stress - knowing that when he comes back he has to go again all too soon - its the hardest thing I have ever done, and it doesn't get easier.

helsee

May i suggest we all simply ignore BLT? the comments posted by this user are at best misinformed and at worst malicious. Im not sure why he/she continues to post being that neither advice or support is ever offered.

samm1551

Good for GH. Maybe they should have included husband of as well because I know a couple of great house husbands where I am and they support their serving wives and the children as much as we support our serving husbands and children.