The Call

Well it happened! Last night, the phone rang long distance and at first, I thought "not another telemarker?" but when I saw the area code, I thought it might be my husband and then I heard "you have a collect call. Please press "1" to accept the charges." I was so anxious that I didn't think I pressed "1" long enough and then I heard "Hey babe. What's up?" I can't tell you how I have longed to hear those words and finally, after 171 days I got to hear my husband's voice and it was just like I remember - slow and strong, southern and sexy.

Our call was limited to five minutes and they really did just fly by. He did most of the talking and I just listened, amazed that it was actually him. I can only compare having your call timed to speed dating - where you have got to cram a lot of information into a short amount of time and believe me that is no easy task when really all you want to do is keep repeating how much you love and miss each other.

There were a million things I wanted to say to him but the only thing that really mattered was that we got to say "I love you" and "I miss you". Having not gotten a call from my husband in six months, this one was like a double-edged sword because while I missed his voice and would have given anything to hear it, when the call finally came, reality set in that I wouldn't hear from him again for possibly another three months and that thought absolutely broke my heart. Even though I have said goodbye to him hundreds of times, it never gets easier and I think if it did, I couldn't really say that I love my husband with all that I am. It should never be easy to say goodbye to the love of your life.

Even though my husband has been in hell for nearly a year and a half and a lesser man would have given up, his sole focus has always been his wife and children and he would do anything for us. That has never been more evident to me than last night at 9:03pm. He wanted his phone call. He made his request and went through the proper channels. He was relentless and he never gave up and he never backed down. He did exactly what he set out to do 171 days ago. He got to talk to his wife!