Sounds Like Life ... During Deployment

In the short time since this deployment got started,

We've oft rued the day that our Soldier departed.

It seems that Murphy knocks, then moves right on in,

Slinging distress, like some unwelcome kin.

It's all in a day of this Army life,

Here is a taste of our most current strife ...

My bedroom TV, which once lulled me to sleep,

Now won't turn on nor make even a peep.

A ceiling fan stopped, refusing to rotate the air,

My son is put-off and whines, "This heat I can't bear!"

My laptop crashed quickly.  A virus?  A hitch?

Gone!  No documents or notes and none of my pics.

The printer stopped printing and errors were flashing;

So through the manual I go, a'hunting and hashing.

Our washing machine, which has ne'er been much trouble,

Now leaks streams of water with an occasional bubble.

The back fence fell over, ten feet in a row,

Now tethered by ropes, in the breeze, swaying slow.

After months of no rain in the hot Texas heat ...

Somehow our yard sports a puddle that could float a ship fleet.

Our dogs love the puddle, the water, the mud,

Now they can't enter the house without a good washing scrub.

Oh, and my car after a new battery and tire,

Kept flashing me notes that my situation was dire.

This faithful car, once a trusty safe ride,

Began overheating, then sputtered and died.

Add raising a child with middle school woes

Who is suddenly worried about girls, shoes, and clothes,

And a 3rd grader, too, who misses his dad,

Who shows every emotion, from excited to sad.

All during a summer with record-breaking highs,

When being outside is not recommended or wise.

Sum all this up with one single word:

Deployment ...

It's crazy and wacky and mean and absurd.

Any Family who has been through deployments

Can testify to this and add a dozen more ailments.

But we will get through it; as we always have done.

With the help of our friends and our family and by seeking out fun.

This deployment won't win; it shall not defeat us.

We'll look forward to the day that our Soldier will once again greet us.