What do you do for him?

I was at job #2 last night, and one of the nice Ladies'  Auxiliary ladies asked me about the Wolf, and "what do you do for him while he is away?".  No one has actually ever asked me this before, and I gave a bland "I write to him and I send him care packages every week and I e-mail him".  After she walked away I got thinking about the kinds of things we really do for our loved ones while they are deployed, things that I think might be harder to explain to people

• we lie to them.  We tell them everything is fine at home, don't tell them the truth about how much we miss them, so they can focus on their job, which is coming home safe to us, and making sure their buddies do the same
• we fib to their families, too, or at least I do.  I buy things for the nieces and nephews, parents, grandma, and say "The Wolf was thinking of you, and asked me to deliver this from him" and "Yes, I talked with him, everything is good, he's just really busy.  I'm sure he'll call when he can".
• we sleep with their shirt, or their pillowcase, and cry our tears into it, so we can put on a happy voice when they do call, and assure them everything is good on the home front
• we handle the emergencies, the crisis, the decisions, the things it would be really nice to share with a partner, but they are focusing on their jobs there, so we do the things that need to be done.
• we say we understand when they only have time for a very short call, or a very short e-mail, because they are so busy.  We desperately want more, but they are doing what they can, so we again put on our happy voice and say "Its OK, I understand"
• we find groups of people like us, on line communities and real life neighbours and friends in the same boat, and we support each other; we carry patio furniture, share our experience and skills, and do the things for each other that our loved one cannot do - from shoveling snow and mowing lawns to lending an ear, or sharing a bottle of wine and some ice cream.  We keep each other going.