Experience

While I admit that I am new to the military wife lifestyle, and yes it is very much so it's own lifestyle, when I was given a class assignment to write a short story on anything personal to me, this is what came out of it. Enjoy!

Nothing Left Simple

Jane was a simple woman with a simple name and an even simpler phone. It was what everyone called “the DYNO-phone” since it appeared to come from the prehistoric era. It was old and plain. It could make calls and that was all. She did not text, e-mail, or Facebook on her phone and that was okay with her. It wasn’t okay with her husband though, who wanted to text instead of go over minutes.

           

            “Seriously Jane. Just take the phone. Your phone won’t work now anyways since I turned it off and turned on this one.” He said with her glaring at him.

            “I don’t want that stupid phone Jake! I don’t even know how to use those freakin’ touch screen things! They break too easily and I wouldn’t even know how to make a 911 call! What if there’s an emergency and I can’t figure out how to call for help all because you HAD to get me some stupid iPhone when MINE worked just fine!” She yelled.

            “Jane dear, it’s just a phone. I will teach you how to use it. We can’t afford to go over our minutes anymore so you WILL learn the art of texting. Plus, you can check your e-mails on this”. He looked at her with the most calm and content look on his face. Even if she is mad at him, he loves her and cannot bring himself to yell at her.  She reached out and grabbed the phone with a frown on her face.  He had won the phone battle.

            “Fine, but if I die because I couldn’t call for help it’s on your conscious” she told him walking away and playing with her new phone.  Ding!  His phone went off a minute later. He looked down at his phone was surprised to see “Text from Jane” across the screen of his phone. He opened the new text and read “ Tihs fone iz stoopid” and couldn’t help but laugh.  He looked out at his wife who was now sitting on the patio apparently trying out her new ringtones.  As he listened to the variety of pre-loaded ringtones she was playing he sighed. He had something to tell her that was going to be much harder than telling her he changed her phone.

            Three days go by and Jane has successfully mastered text messaging on her new iPhone. In fact, she barely made calls at all anymore because she preferred to text! Jake walked in to the living room and sees Jane texting her sister. She was in a good mood and had mastered the phone. Now was the best time to tell her. Jake picked up his phone, found his wife’s number in his contacts, and called her. Looking confused, Jane slid the little green bar across the bottom of her phones screen. “Hello?”

            “Hey babe. I see you’ve figured out your new phone” Her husband replied on the other line and right next to her.  She wasn’t sure what he was doing at this point.  She looked at him and said, “Why are you calling me when you’re standing right next to me?’”

           

“I just wanted to make sure you knew how to answer calls effectively.” He responded. She could see the look on his face and knew something was up. Afraid of his answer she asked, “why?”       

            He hung up the phone and took a seat next to his wife. “The time has come Jane,” he said softly. He watched as her eyes filled with tears, questions, and doubts. “This phone is the only way I will be able to speak with you,” he continued. He looked at his wife and wanted more than anything to comfort her. He knew she was scared but they both knew there was nothing at all they could do to stop him from leaving. This was something that they both knew would come one day. This was his very first deployment. He would be gone for at least a year, maybe more. They never really knew. 

            He put his arms around a crying Jane and kissed her on her forehead. Together, they sat there for hours. It was the most bittersweet moment they had together. Two weeks later—he was gone.

She stared down at the simple black rectangular device that her husband made her get and told her self  “it’s just a phone”. So what if the battery dies for a minute? So what if she loses service for a millisecond? It doesn’t matter, right? WRONG. This stupid small insignificant device is now her lifeline. It is, as of now, the only link to her husband.  As of six hours ago, the only thing in her life left simple was her name.  Her life was now full of wondering, hoping and waiting.  Nothing was simple anymore, not even—her phone.