" One Million Miles "

Well here he is. My husband Jake. We have been married for twenty years. We have had our trying times but we always have worked our way through them.

My husband is an over the road truck driver. He got his commercial drivers license shortly after we met. Most of our marriage has been spent apart. We figured it out recently. Counting days off, vacation days and sick days, we have been together for approximately seven years out of our twenty.

Most of our time spent together is over the phone. We spend a lot of time on the phone. We talk at least six times a day to each other. Being a truck driver is a very difficult job. There are the obvious everyday situations that he has to deal with such as weather conditions and crazy drivers. But there are many additional aspects that one may not readily think of.

For example, imagine what it would be like to live in a small van. There is no bathroom. there is no kitchen. My husband does have a small refrigerator that he keeps lunch meats and milk for his cereal in but that's it. He doesn't eat at truck stops very often and some weeks not at all. They are very expensive. Can you imagine how much it would cost to eat in a truck stop restaurant or even a McDonald's, twice a day everyday. Keep in mind that these places off of the interstates charge more than others.

Also, you can't just pull a big rig into any parking lot that you choose. He is very limited. Most of the companies that he delivers for, won't let the drivers use the bathrooms so if they are there getting unloaded for hours that's just too bad.

Being on time. Oh this is a big one. If he is late on a load he will get fired. So allowing for the traffic and the weather and any other road hazards that may come his way he must be on time. Just a little stress there.

My husband is a professional driver through and through. He has been working for the same company for almost eight years now. No customer has ever complained about him and he has never been late. One time he broke his foot coming down off of a loading dock.

No one at the company that he delivered at would help him. So he got back in his truck and drove himself to the hospital. After he got his cast on, he drove himself home. I couldn't even imagine doing something like that. Did I mention that he is very stubborn as well?

My husband has had to miss many milestones in our childrens lives. Especially Katie's. Think about it. How do you know when your child will sit up, crawl or take their first step? Sure he would get to see it when he would be home but it's not quite the same as seeing it for the first time. We have a lot of video's!

Most of the time his company can get him home for major family events or emergency's. Still it's not always quick enough. When I had my stroke it took him hours to get home. When my mom passed away recently, it wasn't until the next day. Imagine wanting to be with the one you love knowing that you are hours or days away.

Holidays are always interesting. We never know until that very week if he will be home or not. It makes things hard to plan. Sometimes we don't even know until the day before. I could go on and on.

Growing up, my husband dreamed of being a truck driver. I dreamed of being a housewife and mother. It seems that we both got what we dreamed for. We just didn't realize that our dreams would keep us apart. This weekend will be another Valentine's Day spent apart. We've only been together for it once or twice. It used to really make me sad. It still does but I've adapted.

So my reason for posting about my husbands job tonight is that he just reached his own milestone recently. In the past seven years at this company alone, he has hit his One Million Mile mark. That's One Million Miles driven without a ticket or an accident!

I'll never even drive a million miles in my lifetime.

I am very proud of him. He is a professional driver. He is a good husband and father.
He is a good man. And even though it will be yet another Valentine's Day spent apart,
we will be together in our hearts and on the phone of coarse!