Submarine Wives -- An Appreciation
As I look back over the two dozen years I've now been married to my wife, it makes me think about what a truly amazing group faithful Submarine Wives are in general. Whether it's holding down the home front during our frequent absences to dealing with the amine-saturated clothes when we get back to raising money and awareness for worthy causes, Submarine Wives are a more important part of the success of the Sub Force than we sometimes realize. What we do know, of course, is that they are the center of our homes and our lives, and those of us lucky enough to have a good one would be much diminished without them.
Thank you, Laurie, for sticking with me during these last 24 wonderful years. Thanks for the strength you showed when you had to go through trials when I wasn't there, and thanks for providing me with three wonderful children -- the youngest of which I first saw through the periscope when he was a three weeks old. Here's to many, many more (years, not children).
posted by Bubblehead at 8:48 PM
36 Comments:
Well said Joel.
9/08/2009 5:52 AM
This comment has been removed by the author.
9/08/2009 6:25 AM
On behalf the independent military dependents everywhere, I say thank you...for your wonderful sentiments. There are so many talented fantastic women in this community. It took brilliant guys, worthy of the submarine force to snag them.
9/08/2009 6:27 AM
Cheers!
Thanks for seeing us in that light.
We appreciate it :)
Samantha in Groton,CT
9/08/2009 6:41 AM
"...it makes me think about what a truly amazing group faithful Submarine Wives are in general."
So the unfaithful ones aren't quite as amazing?
9/08/2009 6:59 AM
Happy Anniversary!
9/08/2009 7:10 AM
Happy anniversary, Bubblehead!
9/08/2009 7:58 AM
Happy Anniversary! Thanks for remembering what a sacrifices your wife made when you were on active duty and all she still puts up with! :-)
9/08/2009 8:11 AM
Happy anniversary and thank you to the submarine wives who've worked hard for their husbands' success and waited patiently at home and on the pier for the guy to come home.
But it's not all sunbeams and roses. I've had more than one of my sailors tell me that the reason he was going through a divorce in these words: "I came home and had to kick a marine out." And the two Brit submarine couples (same wardroom) who swapped spouses (from personal knowledge). And the two USN submarine O-6s who did the same thing, in Italy (from detailer knowledge and having to help clean up the mess).
In the end, I think the positive comments are about the wonderful nature of enduring marriages, be they submarine couples or anyone else. Those of us in such relationships are truly blessed. Congratulations joel.
9/08/2009 9:31 AM
Happy Anniversary!
9/08/2009 9:37 AM
I would like to add my appreciation for all the wives that handles the household affairs in their husband's absence. You made my job easier by letting your husband concentrate on his job.
OldCOB
9/08/2009 11:28 AM
Handled - not handles. Stupid keyboard.
OldCOB
9/08/2009 11:29 AM
Heartfelt and well said.
9/08/2009 11:32 AM
When it comes to marriages, some are the rose, and some are the thorns! Here's to all the roses! I to appreciate all those that support their Sailor 100% of the time!
STSCS(SS/SW) USN RET
9/08/2009 12:58 PM
What makes faithful submariners wives so special is that they are so RARE.
9/08/2009 1:26 PM
The most important ingredient in making a succesful marriage is picking the right person. The second most important ingredient is being the right person.
Best wishes Joel. My wife Carol and I will be married 25 years in October - our first wedding anniversary not in the Navy.
9/08/2009 1:33 PM
Amen to our wives!
-EM2
9/08/2009 3:02 PM
Ah yes, submarine wives are special. Why else would the nuke who ran off with my "FBM widow" non-vol from subs, then smoke dope on base to wind up with a less-than-honorable discharge, then get her pregnant before our divorce was final? They deserve each other....
9/08/2009 3:05 PM
Submarine wives really make one appreciate the finer things in life! Such as our girlfirends on deployment. Each serves a special role and compliment each other.
Hopefully, they shall never meet.
9/08/2009 5:21 PM
As a former submarine sailor, unmarried while in the service, I never appreciated all of the extra support married guys got. I still don't. I understand the economics but it's just not fair.
Submarine wives are wonderful but they should pull their own, often considerable, weight.
From a strictly consumer oriented point of view, I always preferred bird farm wives. They always had more competetive rates and went the extra mile.
9/08/2009 5:51 PM
Joel, for some strange reason I have also been wonderfully blessed. There has been no better wife for a submariner than mine, a fact I can still prove with unique chits and unenviable experience.
Your sentiments are 100% accurate, if slightly understated.
Congratulations, and may you celebrate a lifetime more of fabulous anniversaries!
9/08/2009 6:30 PM
Nice post. Sounds like your wife is lucky to have you too! Happy anniversary!
As for the comments... I wish I hadn't read some of them. :(
9/08/2009 8:37 PM
Happy Anniversary Joel.
That's outstanding!
I tell ya, it really does make a difference to have a responsible and supportive wife when a guy is underway and out playing around in some ocean or other body of water.
I don't think the Ladies back home get enough credit for that...atleast not publicly. Maintaining a household and taking care of the kids has to be a full time challenge. I'm presently single and have no dependents. But alot of the married guys say it's worth it to have a family. I always like hearing about what's going on back home when my guys get a letter or an E-mail from their better half. Most of the time, it's good news.
I see a look of accomplishment and pride in alot of the guy's eyes when I hear about "Junior" making it to the next grade in school, or losing their first tooth or getting onto the little league ball team.
Granted, Dad is not always there. So it's Mom driving "Junior" to school or the ball field. These simple things in life matter quite abit more than most people realize.
The biggest complaint I see is not having enough money to deal with it all. Even with Family Sep and full BAH, alot of guys still come up short. That's one of hard facts of life that keep me single. I don't want to worry about money when I'm not at home.
I want to stand my first firing squad, oops, I mean "Chief's board" before I think about getting married and having a family. I could be backasswards wrong in my thinking here, but the last thing I want to have to worry about, is finances when I'm not home. I'm seeing too many other guys worrying about this.
So that's it for my late night rambling. Again, however, I'd like to reiterate how much it means for married sailors to have positive and strong support back home. Yes Ladies, that's a biggy,
9/09/2009 2:18 AM
24 yrs. Wow. Congrats to both of you.
9/09/2009 3:42 AM
Joel,
Congratulations on many happy years before and best wishes on many to come!
While some (OK, MOST?) wives' biggest challenge is taking care of the kids, my wife's biggest challenge was taking care of ME! Yeah, we submariners can be difficult and high maintenance at times! Thankfully, I married a hyper, type-A personality who, though she didn't always understand what being a submariner was all about, always knew what had to be done. And DID it. My wife was, is and always will be the best thing that ever happened to me and my life and career, both past and present, would not be the same without her. Thanks for the post, Joel.
9/09/2009 5:15 AM
it makes me think about what a truly amazing group faithful Submarine Wives are in general.
As stated earlier, it is a small group. I fortunately have also been blessed to have one of the truly great ones. 15yrs and 4 boats together.
The larger group, the unfaithful, or the whiny, are eventually a PITA at some point to every LCPO on a boat.
If I had a nickle for every "my wife she..." I heard from my Sailors, I wouldn't need a pension.
Very rarely are those words ever followed by "my wife, she'll take care of it, so I'm good to go." I've been able to say that many, many times.
9/09/2009 4:59 PM
The larger group, the unfaithful, or the whiny, are eventually a PITA at some point to every LCPO on a boat.
Specifcally, the whiny. I probably spent more inport time dealing with otherwise good sailors made into gigantic PITA's due to a spousal unit in possesion of the family jewels. I got in trouble on one boat when I called a guy's wife and politely asked here to return her husband's balls so he could tell her to take care of some inane task her damn self. Her next call was to the Eng's wife, an equally dominating soul.
It's even worse when the intrusive spouse is married to someone above you in the Chain of Command. One of my COB's must have been called by his wife 20 times a day, no exaggeration. I got to the point where if I answered the phone, I would put her on hold and go back to whatever I was doing. To this day, she won't talk to me. She actually sent me a "You're not invited" invitation to her husband's retirement ceremony! I'll bet his post-Navy life will be a blast.
Anyway, Joel: Congratulations to you and Mrs. Bubblehead on 24 years! I'm working on year number 28 myself. She's a true lady of the Submarine Force.
9/10/2009 12:21 PM
My "True Lady" for all my years in the submarine force was my right hand. She never bitched at me, never cheated on me, and never gave me anything but enjoyment.
9/10/2009 3:50 PM
Duck, come on, there is an easy way to keep marines out of your bed: leave the shoe polish on the table where they can't miss it. As soon as they spot it, game over. It's genetics.
9/10/2009 4:38 PM
My "True Lady" for all my years in the submarine force was my right hand. She never bitched at me, never cheated on me, and never gave me anything but enjoyment.
Whatever gets you through life buddy, my hand's pretty ugly.
9/11/2009 7:28 AM
What a sweet post. Congratulations on your Anniversary!!
9/11/2009 10:04 PM
I have been a sub wife for over 11 years, and it made me happy to see the thanks and appreciation you wrote. Hope you had a great anniversary, with many more to come. I have realized that it does take a special(aka stubborn and determined) woman to be a submarines wife, and to be a faithful loving one. I have never cheated, and I never will-it's not worth it. Thank you for all you gave for our great country, and thanks for thinking of us left behind.
9/13/2009 5:29 AM
wow ! what a blog
9/13/2009 10:44 PM
Nice post
1/17/2010 10:39 PM
Nice blog
3/09/2010 5:05 AM
Good blog
4/16/2010 10:18 PM
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