On laundry

I asked him last week, or rather, I posed the question on facebook not expecting an answer and he answered it, how many pairs of acus does one soldier need? I thought I had them all clean, had all the pairs cleaned and neatly folded, and then… god help me, I opened the black trunks that I put in the spare bedroom.

The dogs were the only ones in the house, thankfully, to hear the combination of curse words that slipped as I stood there, eyeing what must be 4 more loads of gear to clean. Although the irritation in my voice sent Bridgette scurrying for her kennel, and had Kate rolling onto her back, tail between her legs, as I stomped into the kitchen.

All my domestic pride, in having sent him off to the field, with clean socks, tshirts and acus, the mark of a taken man, with the perfect girlfriend, vaporized into the air. Here I was thinking I was down to civilian clothes, and just a hamper full of that, when I found myself eyeballing more of his clothes. I am nothing if not perfect at everything I do, I throw myself into school, threw myself into a job, and threw myself into his life with the force of a rocket propelled grenade. So this…. Wrench in my perfect world of happiness, of perfect girlfriendness, with clean clothes, and clean towels, and a clean bathroom, really put a wrench in my day.

Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I heard my mother chuckling, reminding me that this is something I will be doing all the time, his laundry. I will lose count of the time of times I match socks, fold pants, and stack towels in the linen closet. But even as I got huffy, and started pulling clothes out to wash, I was grinning. This is the life I chose for myself, standing beside him, taking care of him while he takes care of the world.

And the funny part… when I tossed a load of his gear in the wash, I noticed a bright splash of purple. I went into giggles when I realized it was a pair of my panties, in lacy purple, stuck to the velcro on his jacket. That’s me, the bright spot of civilian, sparkling pink against the camouflage in his life.

~Jennifer