You don't know, but I'm the girl who cries every morning, and hopes every night for his safe return. I'm the girl who drags herself out of bed every morning so that he will be proud of her when he comes home. I'm the girl who lies in bed longing for him to be laying next to me. You don't know but I'm the girl with a million things to say but not one will come out without the thought of him. I'm the girl who checks her cell phone every five seconds just to make sure I haven't missed his call. I'm the girl who stops and stares and wishes for him to return home soon each and every time another man in uniform walks by.

What you don't know is that I know love on an entirely different level from most. I know the love that spans time and space; the love that most people are constantly searching for. I'm one of the girls who waits months for a single kiss; a kiss that will make the months apart worth every second. A kiss where everything in the world stops. I am one of the girls who will stand tall and stay strong, but be dying on the inside. I am one of the girls who will make friends with complete strangers for only they can even begin to understand what I'm going through. You don't understand that I picture his face everywhere I go and that he is with me in everything I do. You think I don't cry anymore, that I have gotten over it, but what you don't know is that I just hide it better.

You don't know the feeling the first time you hear the word deployment or the feeling of his hand as it slides out of yours for what could be the last time. You don't know what the last hug or kiss means and how important that last goodbye truly is. I am the girl you see walking by with a disheartened face staring silently at the ground. What you don't know, is that I know true love and that no matter what obstacles we have to face, our love will last forever.

You tell me you support the troops; I tell you I'm in love with one. I'm one of the silent, but outgoing; weak but strong; scared but grateful. What you don't see is that without me, he is nothing and without him, I am nothing. I'm one of those girls who stands tall behind her Soldier, stands proud behind her Hero, stands strong behind her man, watching silently as he serves our country.