I never made any secret of the fact that when my husband went off for training 4 months ago I was going to be pretty lost. I was suffering from postpartum depression and I wasn’t in a good place. I was forced to either drown in those waves, or learn how to lean on myself. After having my soulmate by my side on paternity leave for 8 months he was going to be two provinces away. The first few weeks were the hardest. There were days I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it. Days I wanted to call him and beg him to come home and help me raise our son. Days I didn’t believe in myself.
There is a common saying that depot days get easier – this is not true, not in our case. They are the same difficulty all the way through.
Having him home for a three day visit was something that I looked forward to (as did he) and I just don’t have the words to express how thankful and blessed I felt the entire time. We went out for lunch together and had pho – it was his first experience with the soup. It was delicious. We laughed at jokes that only the two of us would understand. He ended up streaming for Extra Life and playing the Dream Daddy: A Dating Sim game. He even dressed up for the occasion.
I’m incredibly lucky to have this person in my life. He has seen me at my absolute lowest and stood by my side. He has also seen me at my highest points. He has changed, since he has been gone. As have I, as has our son. We all recognized how much stronger we are.
The point of this post is – if you have such a person in your life, remind them. Even if you think it’s silly. Remind them as often as you can just how amazing they are and how they have changed your life. The saying about you not realizing what you have until it’s gone is absolutely true. We took each other for granted and I realize that now.
We have three more very long months ahead of us, but Christmas will be the next time I see him and I’m excited about it already. Instead of focusing on the sadness I feel because he left today, I’m going to focus on the excitement of him coming home for the holidays. Whatever it takes to distract myself from the empty house and the silence.
Lets get back to some gaming posts next up!