Hi. My name is Christina, and I’m married to a Marine named Wade.
As an active-duty servicemans’ wife, I’ve had my fair share of long separations during our marriage. After my husbands third deployment, we decided it was time for us to adopt a dog. At the very first animal shelter we went to, in San Clemente, CA, we saw a beautiful 3 or 4 year old lab/pitt-bull mix. She had the loveliest deep brown eyes, and was very loving and affectionate. We spent less than five minutes with Cutie before starting on the adoption paperwork. Very soon we were all heading home as one happy family. Yep, one happy family that now included a dog that apparently suffered from motion sickness! Ack!
We all have our issues, though, and it didn’t put us of Cutie in the least. She was a very good-natured, easy going dog, always seeking our praise and attention and watching out for us.
Before we knew it, I was seeing my husband off for his fourth deployment, this time to war-torn Iraq. At the time, my husband was Infantry, so it was not just another routine 6-months.
After seeing him off on my own, it was very comforting to go home to Cutie who, as always, was very excited to see me. She knew I was extremely upset and stayed by my side for the remainder of the day. In fact, she was always there when I was upset, feeling stressed, or just lonely, sitting at my side and offering me the comfort of her presence.
Just a little over a year before, during the previous deployment, night time was especially lonely. As the darkness descended each night and all my friends, neighbors and even the birds went to sleep, I could feel the emptiness of my home. With Cutie around, though, I felt much less alone and slept much better than I had during previous deployments.
Cutie helped me get through our fifth deployment as well, making me feel safe and loved in an otherwise empty home. When our daughter was born a year later, it didn't take much for Cutie to adjust. Before long, my daughter Brianna and Cutie were providing each other with hours of entertainment. Cutie was endlessly patient with the ear-pulling, tail-tugging, and general clamboring all over her from the active baby/toddler.
