The makings of a military wife.

A 24 Carat ode to The Emotional Anchor of military life who is an intrinsic motivator and a force-multiplier.

The good Lord was creating a model for military wives and was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared. She said, "Lord, you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. What's wrong with the standard model?"

The Lord replied, "Have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be completely independent, possess the qualities of both father and mother, be a perfect hostess to four or forty with an hour's notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregnant and has the flu and she must be willing to move to a new location 10 times in 17 years. And, oh yes, she must have six pairs of hands".

The angel shook her head. "Six pairs of hands? No way".

The Lord continued, "Don't worry, we will make other military wives to help her. And we will give her an unusually strong heart so it can swell with pride in her husband's achievements, sustain the pain of separations, beat soundly when it is overworked and tired and be large enough to say 'I understand' when she doesn't and say 'I love you' regardless".

"Lord", said the angel touching his arm gently, "Go to bed and get some rest. You can finish this tomorrow".

"I can't stop now", said the Lord. "I am so close to creating something unique. Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up six unexpected guests for the weekend, wave goodbye to her husband from a pier, a runway or a depot and understand why it's important that he leaves".

The angel circled the model of the military wife, looked at it closely and sighed, "It looks fine but it's too soft".

"She might look soft", replied the Lord, "but she has the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure".

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Lord's creation. "There's a leak", she announced. "Something is wrong with the construction. I am not surprised that it has cracked. You are trying to put too much into this model".

The Lord appeared offended at the angel's lack of confidence. "What you see is not a leak", he said. "It's a tear".

"A tear? What is it there for?" asked the angel. 

The Lord replied, "It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, pride and a dedication to all the values that she and her husband hold dear".

"You are a genius!" exclaimed the angel.

The Lord looked puzzled and replied, "I didn't put it there".

- Ann Landers in her column in the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday, the 24th of Feb 1991

My take

Fully subscribe to the sentiments portrayed about a military wife because I've seen a whole lot of them during my life in the Indian Navy!

Tailpiece.

Got up at a trifle past 6, the chores and was ready by a quarter to 10. Suma, the maid was on leave. 

Went to town at about a half past 11, first to Harisree, the department store and then, to buy fish for Kittu.

Mithun, came by about a quarter past 8 in the evening to drop the grocery. 

Today is a great day for all Indians. Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu is the new Miss Universe. It's my fond hope that India makes a clean sweep of the beauty titles by bagging the Miss World and Miss Earth titles too like Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Dia Mirza had done it not long ago!