When the good Lord was creating
military spouses, He was into His sixth day of
overtime. An angel appeared and said, "You're having a lot of trouble
with this one. What's wrong with the standard
model?"
The Lord replied, "Have you seen the regulations? It has to be completely independent, but must be sponsored to get
on the base; have the qualities of both mother
and father during deployment; be a perfect hostess for four
to forty; handle emergencies without orders; cope with flu and moves around
the world; have a kiss that cures everything from a child's torn valentine
to a serviceman's weary day; have the patience of a saint
when waiting for the unit to return Stateside, and have six pairs of hands!"
The angel shook her head slowly
and said, "Six pairs of hands? No way!"
And the Lord answered, "Don't worry, we'll make other
military spouses help. Besides, it's not the hands
that are causing the problem, it's the heart. It must swell with pride, sustain the ache of separations, beat on soundly when it's tired
to do so, and be large enough to say 'I
understand' when it doesn't and say 'I love you, regardless.'"
"Lord," said the angel, touching
His sleeve gently, "Go to bed, You can finish that
tomorrow."
"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close to creating something
unique. Already I have one who can heal
itself when sick, feed unexpected guests who are
stuck in the area due to bad weather, and wave good-bye to its spouse
from a pier or runway and understand it's important
to the country that the spouse leaves."
The angel circled the model of
the military spouse very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed.
"But tough," said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this
being can do or endure."
"Can it think?"
"Can it think! It can convert
1400 to 2 p.m. in a wink."
Finally, the angel bent over
and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "I told you that you were trying
to put too much into this model."
"It's not a leak," said the Lord.
"It's a tear."
"What is it for?" asked the angel.
"It's for joy, sadness, pain,
loneliness, and pride."
"You're a genius," said the angel.
The Lord looked somber and replied, "I didn't put it there."
