Description
Book SynopsisSince combat operations began in October 2001, more than 2.1 million U.S service members have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and over half of them were married. Marriage During Deployment, a memoir about a military family during wartime deployment, offers a window into the homelife and emotional world of a military family during deployment. During her husband's Army deployment to Afghanistan, Marna Ashburn shows the mother handling everything teaching the child to drive, attending little league games and school events solo, fixing broken dishwashers and cars, and celebrating holidays without dad. Marriage During Deployment depicts how the children and mother cope during the absence of their military member and how they stay connected to him while he is six thousand miles away from them.But while families try to stay connected during deployment, it can certainly be tough on them, and even tougher on the relationship. The truth is that geographical distance allows habits and cop
Trade ReviewMarriage During Deployment is a no-holds-barred look at the life of a mom and wife whose story will resonate with others who have struggled through the tangled web of emotions that go along with parenting and marriage during a deployment. The hope and pain is palpable on the pages of Marriage During Deployment, leaving readers wondering "What will come of this marriage? Will it survive deployment?" -- Janine Boldrin, Creative Director of Military Kids' Life magazine and/or Editor/Writer for military publications
Marna Ashburn writes with uncommon bravery and honesty about the struggles unique to military marriages. This book gripped me from beginning to end. Hers is a voice we need to hear; with hard-won perspective and clear-eyed candor, Ashburn lights the way to a better understanding of service and sacrifice. -- Rachel Starnes, author of The War at Home: A Wife's Search for Peace (and Other Missions Impossible)
Marna Ashburn speaks from bitter experience when she says military marriage requires careful attention from both spouses to survive and be healthy. She writes that a year-long deployment was the "death knell" to her own troubled marriage. However, her candidly related and hard-won experience could help other military couples to strengthen their own partnerships, not just for deployment but for all the challenges of military life. -- Terri Barnes, a military wife of 30 years; author of Spouse Calls: Messages From Military Life (a best-of collection of her award-winning column in Stars and Stripes); special projects editor for Elva Resa Publishing
Table of Contents1 Emotional Effects of Deployment 2 The Early Years 3 Managing the Rhythms and Demands of Daily Life 4 Communication, Telecommunication, and Miscommunication 5 How Deployment Affects a Family 6 Mishaps and Murphy’s Law 7 Death of a Family Member 8 New Traditions, New Normal 9 Fitting Back Together Epilogue
