She wrote to tell me the story of her FIFO life and her FIFO started much like mine by the written word . Unconventional full of trust and risk but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I met my husband in 1999 on a girls night out. He was in the defence force and was on leave in Darwin and so for three weeks he didnt leave my side. Then one Saturday night with out word he literally slipped into the darkness. He was amongst the first deployment to East Timor with no date of return. That Saturday night we were to meet up after his shift and my ‘girls evening out’ but instead he left me a message on my phone. I listened to that message over and over again. I still wish I had that message. I was devastated because after three weeks of knowing this boy I knew he was the one and I hadn’t told him in fact I had told him and treated him the exact opposite way.
But that long deployment brought with it an amazing gift that I only realise now that FIFO life and this FIFO life had given me; I wrote my first letter. Hand written six times till it looked okay and sent it. It was the first of many in fact we wrote a letter everyday of our ‘courtship’ although that really has never ended. We have written a letter almost everyday of our life. We have literally written a thousand letters. I got to know him through the written word. Our dreams, thoughts, feelings and wishes for each other. We have letters telling of the past of major events 9/11, the Bali bombings, Larry and snippets of time. I have the thoughts and feelings of our babies yet to come.
I feel amazed that I have this gift. I have every letter spanning every single event of our lives. From that first deployment to everyone after and from there I have every email and now every photo. My whole relationship with my husband is documented. My boys lives are documented. My families life, this families life is documented. I have kept every letter and email from my husband and my husband from I and one day I will copy and bind them. Perhaps my boys would like a copy. For their families. To see where it started from the very beginning.
How about you? Have you ever thought of writing down your story or have you done it.
xxDeb
