I don't have a "Person"

You know... the person that gets called if something bad happens to you. I know, you're probably thinking, "But your married. Your husband is your person." But I'm learning that as a military spouse, that's not really the case.

See, I started my scuba class tonight and we had to list an emergency contact on the paperwork. Someone that they could reach if I drown or get stung by a stingray. Someone on the island. And, as we know my husband is not on the island at the moment!

Of course, I didn't have my cell phone with me, so any girlfriends I might have listed as emergency contacts weren't an option because I didn't have their numbers. Then, one of the men in the class offered to let me use his wife as my emergency contact. Granted, this was the first time I'd ever seen this guy and wouldn't know his wife if she showed up at my door this minute... but it was a nice offer.

Then one of the other guys in the class (I am one of two women in the 12 person class... the other one is taking it with her husband) asked me where my husband worked. This I knew. HMM-262. And would you believe it, two of the guys in the class are from the same squadron! They are enlisted Marines who work in the maintenance department and had to stay behind from the deployment b/c of schedule things. Anyways, they gave me the number of the squadron SDO (Staff Duty Officer?) to put as my Emergency Contact. I guess if a shark gets me, they'll call the SDO who will then try to get ahold of Burr and he will??? I'm not really sure what would happen from there, but I have an emergency contact now.

Actually, this is an issue I've thought of before today. I don't have a "person" when Burr's gone (which I'm beginning to see could be more often than not), and I don't know who my first phone call is. I mean, I've actually played the scenario in my mind, "if I fall down the stairs and hurt myself, who do I call?" You can't just dial 911 on your cell phone here. Also, if Gabe were to be bitten by the deadly Habu snake on the weekend or after 5pm, who would I call? Who would help me if the on-base vet were closed?

This is just a sample of the daily stress I put myself through. I think that since I have this week off of work, I will spend some time finding the numbers I need, designating a "person" and putting all of the information into my phone.

THAT would be a very worthwhile project.

rmf