COCHRANE— Remembrance Day can serve as a way to honour all aspects of military service, including spouses and families who act as a lifeline to those who's military duty takes them overseas.
Military families play a key role for service members when they serve their duty to the country, Laura Bryce said, explaining the need to “Remember that there is family that is part of the service.”
Laura’s husband Bryce served in Afghanistan with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry First Battalion from 2009 to 2010. He retired from the military in 2011.
“We were the cliche army story— We had just married in the summer I was deployed and she was pregnant just as I was leaving,” Bryce said.
During his service, the duo were in the midst of planning their wedding when Bryce got the call to travel acrross the world for his country. He was on the road within hours and missed all the wedding planning because he was off training for deployment.
“That happened within eight hours— I packed up my gear and then I was on a bus to Suffield and was off for seven weeks,” Bryce said.
He finished training four days before the wedding, and the couple were able to go on a week long honeymoon before he returned to training for deployment.
“It was non-stop training until we went overseas,” he said.
It was a challenging time in their lives, because while he was called to duty Laura was pregnant with the couple's first child.
“Being able to share that with your husband and that was our first baby— The ultrasound, feeling the baby for the first time all that sort of stuff,” Laura said.
She added it was especially challenging because as a couple Bryce missed out on a lot of good things while deployed, but as a family, they missed experiencing important moments together.
The experience was made all the more challenging because moments of connection would often be interrupted when his military duties called.
“For her birthday phone call we were interrupted by a rocket attack,” Bryce said. “We went into lockdown and she didn’t hear from me for two or three days.”
Bryce was pulled off early from duty and was able to make it home for the birth of his first baby Grace, he said, but not every service member has this opportunity.
It was a race to the finish line to be at Laura's side in time for Grace's birth, he said, because of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull was erupting in Iceland shutting down air travel between North America and Europe.
Bryce ended up being on one of the last planes out of Europe.
“It was just one of those things where you’re at the doctor's office and they were making sure I was OK, and I was going to not let me have this baby before he comes home,” Laura said with a laugh.
She added they had more time apart than together until their second wedding anniversary.
The military is not a typical nine to five job, she said, explaining it becomes a lifestyle that changes one's life forever.
Laura said being a military spouse is often a difficult experience because family members often do not receive the same support as service members.
“A lot of it is respecting those families because they didn’t sign up,” Laura said. “You’re loved one’s signed up but you’re also providing a service because you're the support person.”
She wishes people knew the responsibilities they held because they are the one’s left behind.
“At the end of the day they’re the support person, they’re on the other end of the line when the service person is on tour,” Laura said. “That still leaves a mark on people— It’s remembering the time that he was gone and he was serving, remembering those people that we lost, those people that made it home and were never quite the same again."
It is stressful being a military spouse, Bryce said, and it can be unfortunate because it’s the ones who serve overseas who get the accolades leaving their support system unacknowledged.
The military is still a part of their lives now, Laura said, but it has evolved with each year being a little bit different. They have lost friends along the way and Bryce has channelled his experience to create a PTSD support organization Wayfinders Wellness Retreat.
“They might not want to share stories but when they open the doors and you share it’s good for them,” Laura said, explaining that it is a way to share stories as a way of practicing respect.
Some of the best friends they jave in the world they met while Bryce was serving. She is grateful for the close friends she had and family to support her while he was away.
“It really, truly does take a village,” Laura said.
It will be a difficult honouring Remembrance Day this year because many community members have been separated by the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
The virus has stirred up conversations questions for people about their own individual freedoms and rights, Laura said, adding she hopes people keep in mind that Canadian veterans and current service members have made the life we live in Canada possible.
“They served for our country and you have an obligation to be the best Canadian possible because they’re the ones that put their lives on the line."
