A thank you to my deployed husband

I don’t know where to start this post.  So I guess I’ll start with thank you.  Thank you for being the man that you are.  Thank you for being a husband and father beyond compare.  Thank you for filling my heart with a love of such fierceness I can barely contain it.  Thank you for taking such pure and unalloyed joy in our children.  Thank you for extending the same respect you command from others.  Thank you for having the integrity and strength to do the job that you do.  Thank you for your unshakable work ethic.  Thank you for providing our family with the comfort, stability, and security we’re so fortunate to enjoy.  Thank you for your unwavering dedication to doing what’s right no matter the consequence.  Thank you for not complaining each time the military plucks you up and sends you away at a moment’s notice.  Thank you for being strong enough to leave your family behind while you fight a thankless war in a country that doesn’t want you.  Thank you for reminding me every day that freedom isn’t free.  Thank you for paying the price of that freedom in hard work, sweat, and tears.  Thank you for enduring each missed holiday, birthday, and anniversary without a trace of bitterness.  Thank you for witnessing my tears and calmly hearing out my frustrations when it all seems like too much.  Thank you for each letter home penned despite overwhelming tiredness of body and weariness of soul.  Thank you for all of this and so much more that I don’t have the words to express.  I may not be able to tender the thanks of a grateful nation, but I can and do offer the thanks of a grateful wife.  Thank you for being my soul mate, best friend, and other half.  I love you and miss you with every breath I take.  I’m proud of you.  Come home to me safely, my love.