The Love of Family

The Love of Family – 05/22/2011

My intention when starting  this blog was to give the world a candid, insider's view of what it's like to be the wife of a soldier. The whole idea of the blog is to give others what I wish I had had the first time my husband deployed. I really wish I had something that told me what things would really be like. Sure our friends told us it would be hard, but no one wants to talk about the personal aspects. So I decided to be the one to write about it. I wanted what I wrote to be raw, honest and personal, without being too personal. It was important for me to keep a sense of privacy while sharing my stories with the world.  For this entry, however, I am going to break my own rule and introduce you to a very important family member. Our dog.

My husband and I adopted our dog- Titan- a few years ago. He was a year and a half old when he came to us. We were his fourth family. This dog came to us scared, broken and unsure of what to expect. After a lot of love and hard work, Titan has become a huge part of our family. He is so loving and has the most amazing personality. When my husband is away, Titan is always there to lift my spirits and remind me that I'm not alone. We don't have children yet so Titan has definitely become our child.

I always ask people how to explain to a dog that his dad is just going away for a few months but is going to come home. He doesn't understand it when I tell him. When my husband left in March, Titan sat in our backyard, staring at the garage door, for hours on end. He'd come back in the house when he got hungry or it got dark. This went on for probably the first month and  then he just kind of realized he wasn't coming  back (yet). Now he sits in front of the window, looking out, still waiting. I've gotten used to sharing my phone and video chat times with Titan. Usually when we talk, Titan will come into the computer room and howl into the computer. I always have to give up the first couple of minutes of the call so my husband and Titan can discuss their days and how much they miss each other (I'm assuming other people go through things like this with their children). We do this every time my husband is away, whether it be on the computer or having the phone on speaker (for the record, Titan talks to his grandma (my mom) this way too). 

The most amazing thing happened this morning. I woke up at 8:30 when my husband sent me an instant message. I asked him to give me a couple of minutes so I could get up. I got out of bed, let Titan outside to play in the yard and turned on the water for some tea. Then I went into the computer room for a video chat. I thought I was actually going to get some time with my husband, without having to share him with Titan. Which would have been wonderful. The program we use has a very distinct ring when he calls for a video chat. As soon as the ring sounded and we started to talk, I  heard Titan barking outside to come in. He'd heard the ring from outside and knew what it was! He ran into the house and started to run right to our bedroom when he heard my husband's voice. He stopped in his tracks, sliding across the hardwood floors and stopped in the middle of the computer room and stared at the computer screen, giving his dad an ears-perked-head-tilt. And then he started howling. I had to tilt the computer screen down a bit so Titan was visible on the web cam and gave them a few minutes to “chat.” It was almost impossible to hold back the tears this time. 

Everyone knows the old saying about dogs being man's best friend but if this story isn't proof of that than I don't know what is. This dog, who came to us after being beaten, abandoned and repeatedly given away, has the most incredible ways of showing my husband and I how much he loves us. I honestly don't mind giving up a few minutes of chat time because I love seeing the smile on my husband's face (sometimes there are even a few tears in his eyes!) and happy wag of Titan's tail. I don't think there is any love more unconditional than the love Titan has for us and we have for him. He's an incredible dog.