E-Mail to the Front : One Wife's Correspondence with Her Husband Overseas

by Alesia Holliday

• ISBN13: 9780740735752
• ISBN10: 0740735756
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-14
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Summary

"E-mail to the Front" looks at military deployment from the perspective of the family left behind. This inside angle gives America a funny and poignant look at the sacrifices military families make.

Author Biography

Alesia Holliday has survived three moves, two deployments, three bar exams, the birth of two children, and a ridiculous number of lawyer jokes. She was cohost of a daily call-in cable TV talk show and has been a guest on broadcast news programs. Her husband, Lt. Judd McLevey, is a naval flight officer and mission commander on a P-3 Orion aircraft.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	x
Introduction	xii
Glossary of Military and Navy Jargon	xv
Part One: Deployment June 2000 to December 2000
It's Not Just a Marriage, It's an Adventure	3	(4)
Departure: Only 183 Days to Go	7	(5)
The Stay-at-Home Military Spouse	12	(5)
It's Tuesday, What Time Is It in Bahrain?	17	(4)
The Dreaded Paper Chain	21	(5)
The Lawn Mower SNAFU	26	(4)
You're Off Saving the World, and I'm Home Cleaning Up Dog Vomit	30	(4)
I Don't Churn My Own Butter, Either	34	(4)
My Nomination for Mother of the Year Got Lost	38	(4)
Lattes and Diet Coke Transfusions	42	(3)
Your Son Discovered His Penis This Week	45	(4)
Rebellion of the Appliances	49	(5)
Staying Fit in Thirty Minutes a Month	54	(5)
Geography and Friendships: Relocation, Relocation, Relocation	59	(4)
Military Spouses' Clubs: Sharing Tears, Laughter . . . and Quilt Squares?	63	(4)
Phone Calls at 4 A.M.	67	(2)
That's Classified	69	(6)
Is It Safe to Eat Month-Old Cookies?	75	(4)
Over the Hump	79	(3)
Chasing Children, Running After Raccoons, and Other Aerobic Exercise	82	(3)
ThreatCon Delta	85	(3)
When Bad Things Happen	88	(11)
Why Military Spouses Deserve Combat Pay	99	(4)
Loneliness and Cold Feet	103	(3)
Holidays: First Deployment	106	(6)
The Home Stretch	112	(11)
Part Two: Deployment November 2001 to June 2002
You Don't Write, You Don't Call	123	(6)
Six Long Months: Will I Be a Virgin Again?	129	(2)
It's Like Being a Single Parent, But I Can't Date	131	(1)
How Will Santa Find Daddy?	132	(7)
Fear, Danger, and Terrorism	139	(4)
On Patriotism	143	(3)
Enduring Freedom and Enduring Love	146	(5)
Back in the Emergency Room	151	(11)
Phone Sex on Monitored Lines	162	(3)
CNN Breaking News Usually Sucks	165	(3)
The Working Military Spouse	168	(7)
The Great Commissary Shopping Cart Derby	175	(5)
Long-Distance Parenting: Just Say No	180	(4)
Top Ten Things Not to Say to a Military Spouse	184	(3)
Gifts from Foreign Lands	187	(3)
Our Heroine Admits She's Not Super Woman	190	(4)
Top Ten Things a Military Spouse Wants to Hear	194	(2)
Over the Hump: Planning a Visit	196	(3)
Seattle to Tokyo: Two Kids, Three Bags, and Four Hundred Tylenol	199	(7)
Jet Lag and Jelly Beans	206	(3)
Flag Waving, Writing, and Other Skills	209	(4)
Family, Friends, and Other Lifelines	213	(4)
Our Daughter the Bag Lady	217	(3)
Dear Military Spouse: Official Appreciation	220	(5)
Holidays: Second Deployment	225	(7)
Homecoming	232	(6)
Epilogue	238