Slip, slide, swear, and cry your way through the Game of Deployment! Allow the Air Force to spin on your behalf to see how you can get through each day without going insane while your partner works in an undisclosed desert region on the other side of the world. See which new curse words enter your daily vocabulary! Burn with resentment as your spouse gets uninterrupted sleep each night and you clean vomit out of bed sheets at two o’clock in the morning. Will your spouse be home for the holidays? Will he miss every single birthday this year? Will your geriatric dog still be alive when he returns? Keep bumbling along until you, the pawn, greet your spouse at the airport and he can comment on your undereye circles and ask, “Have you always had those gray hairs?” But watch out! If the Air Force says so, you go all the way back to start at any point in the game!
I've followed Suleika Jaouad for awhile and find her words to be captivating and inspiring. While in Austin earlier this month, I visited @bookpeople and finally picked up a copy of Jaouad's memoir, "Between Two Kingdoms." I loved everything about this read, from the gifted storytelling to the cover picture of Suleika and Oscar on the tangerine camper van. While I have not battled illness, I connected deeply with the idea of living in the "in between" and understood some of the anxieties and uncertainty of re-entry Jaouad describes. Her words do not preach or prescribe, but simply by sharing her experience and leaving space for what is still unknown, Suleika taught me so much. I'm glad I have a copy for my bookshelf, and I know I'll revisit this one again.