Organization aims to help military spouses left behind
SEATTLE -- The idea is to keep these families together, but it can be so much harder when one partner is a couple of oceans away.
Melissa's husband is in the military, and when it was just a few years into their marriage, she was ready to give-up.
"I told him I wanted a divorce," she told KOMO News.
While divorce seems fairly common everywhere these days, there are very high rates of marriage failure when one or both spouses are members of the military. Experts say the reasons are a combination of living apart for long stretches at a time, and not communicating well doing those lengthy deployments.
"I think anyone in the military who says they haven't wanted to quit (their marriage) is probably not telling the truth," Melissa says. She and her husband worked things out, and they've been together 7 years. But they had to learn to communicate better, as well as to rely on others.
"One of the problems as a military spouse is you are incredibly proud," she continues. "You are going to prove on a daily basis that you can do this and that you are proud of your husband. So in those moments when you do feel weak, I think it becomes very hard for us to reach out and say that we do need help."
Anyone who's lost a loved one can relate to "those moments."
"I'll be going along just fine during my day, when I find one of his socks left on the floor," Melissa confesses. "And it's really hard when I catch a whiff of his cologne."
While there are many groups that cater to the needs of military members serving overseas, there aren't a lot of resources for military spouses left behind, which is where Operation Military Family comes in. The group works to counsel military couples, helping them to capitalize on what little time they have for the basic need of any relationship: Good, clear communication.
"These spouses, they live in our communities," says Operation Military Family founder Mike Schindler. "A good number of the population doesn't live on installations anymore."
Spouses like "Michelle."
"Five times," she recalls. "Five different times, we were at the brink of calling this thing (marriage) off."
Besides counseling, Operation Military Family also tries to do "special" things to reach out to spouses left behind. This week, they're promoting something called "petal power" --- as in flower petal. To commemorate Military Appreciation Month, the group wants to specifically remember military spouses left behind. Just go to their website www.operationmilitaryfamily.org , color a picture of a flower, and they'll get it to a spouse trying to hold things together here on the homefront.
"If we would have just had something close to this," says Michelle, "it would have made such a difference."
Melissa's husband is in the military, and when it was just a few years into their marriage, she was ready to give-up.
"I told him I wanted a divorce," she told KOMO News.
While divorce seems fairly common everywhere these days, there are very high rates of marriage failure when one or both spouses are members of the military. Experts say the reasons are a combination of living apart for long stretches at a time, and not communicating well doing those lengthy deployments.
"I think anyone in the military who says they haven't wanted to quit (their marriage) is probably not telling the truth," Melissa says. She and her husband worked things out, and they've been together 7 years. But they had to learn to communicate better, as well as to rely on others.
"One of the problems as a military spouse is you are incredibly proud," she continues. "You are going to prove on a daily basis that you can do this and that you are proud of your husband. So in those moments when you do feel weak, I think it becomes very hard for us to reach out and say that we do need help."
Anyone who's lost a loved one can relate to "those moments."
"I'll be going along just fine during my day, when I find one of his socks left on the floor," Melissa confesses. "And it's really hard when I catch a whiff of his cologne."
While there are many groups that cater to the needs of military members serving overseas, there aren't a lot of resources for military spouses left behind, which is where Operation Military Family comes in. The group works to counsel military couples, helping them to capitalize on what little time they have for the basic need of any relationship: Good, clear communication.
"These spouses, they live in our communities," says Operation Military Family founder Mike Schindler. "A good number of the population doesn't live on installations anymore."
Spouses like "Michelle."
"Five times," she recalls. "Five different times, we were at the brink of calling this thing (marriage) off."
Besides counseling, Operation Military Family also tries to do "special" things to reach out to spouses left behind. This week, they're promoting something called "petal power" --- as in flower petal. To commemorate Military Appreciation Month, the group wants to specifically remember military spouses left behind. Just go to their website www.operationmilitaryfamily.org , color a picture of a flower, and they'll get it to a spouse trying to hold things together here on the homefront.
"If we would have just had something close to this," says Michelle, "it would have made such a difference."