Ritzy and I traveled to Oklahoma City this last weekend so he could turn in all his military "stuff". His last day in the military was March 21st, 2009. We then went to Tulsa to attend a Marriage Enrichment Seminar for returning soldiers.
This would be our last ever "Military" event....
We had a wonderful time. The weather on Friday was really odd. It started out raining, hailing, snowing.....that's Oklahoma for ya!!!
We got to the hotel around 2:00pm Friday afternoon. We registered for the event and got settled in for the night.
We were talking and I was telling Ritzy that I have been looking for this day (Military retirement) to come for many years, but it did not have the effect on me that I expected. I was expecting a big SIGH OF RELIEF moment. I guess it is just going to take some time to get out of "military mode". Just like his deployment and re-deployment, both those took time to get used to. Even tho he has been home for 5 months now, I still don't feel the way I expected to.
One thing I learned this last weekend is that after a deployment our life will never be the same. Our old ideas of what was "normal" are gone. We are going to have to develop or find a new "normal" for us. That takes time.
All I know is that Ritzy and Ritzywife's life and marriage is worth whatever it takes to get us thru.
Yes, I can say that there are some things I will miss because Ritzy is no longer a military man, but I am ready for us to find other things in our lives that bring us closer and make us stronger.
All I have to say is that Ritzywife loves Ritzy and is so very proud of him, and with that Ritzywife is out!