Let him have fun; By Jasmine Reffner

Let him have fun

By Jasmine Reffner

So have you ever sat there and wondered where your guy was when he was six? I know I can't be the only one who has dreamt, "If I only I met him when we were infants and grew up and fell in love". Yeah, yeah, I daydream like I'm in a teenage RomCom, sue me. I always have this overwhelming sensation of if only. Though, you know what they say about if only, right? Me either I'm just usually told to stop otherwise I'll cry until there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm always lost in what I was doing when I was six. Granted, I'm 21 now so a good percentage of that is foggy and questionable, but it's there. I had one of the best childhoods imaginable. Call me lucky because Capri-Sun and Disney Channel were an unlimited supply in my household. I know I laughed and I know my dad tickled me until I couldn't breathe, but I can't hold onto any concrete memories. That's what I feel like for my man.

I've heard stories and am only able to paint what my mind imagines. When he was six he had books to read and playgrounds to play on, but it's different. He remembers the concrete memories because when he tells me about his books and playgrounds they're always this off shade dark gray with no room for vibrant reds or pastel blues, just gray. He wasn't reading any Clifford books, but ones they make you read in 11th grade English. I mean his mind was always years ahead of his body and I think that's why he looks like a 20-year-old, but is much older in heart.

You're probably asking why any of this matters and thinking that you don't care what I did or he did when we were six, but there's a point I promise. He enlisted for himself because he never saw himself as a man. You hear it everywhere, "Walk in a boy, walk out a man" when they realize he's becoming a Marine. I'm not going to lie he's certainly more of a man than he was when I met him way back when. I think becoming a Marine did that for him. He walked in a boy and sure as hell walked out a man.

So my point. You remember when I said he was far beyond his years at age six? Well between six and 12 he lost something. I couldn't pinpoint what because I don't think it's something physical. He never really had a chance to be a kid. He didn't have Capri-Sun and Disney like I did. He had two parents who loathed each other and a brother who was too little to play like a six year old should play. I guess what I'm trying to say is let him be a kid for once. He has responsibilities and he signed a contract to do his job, but tell him it's okay to have fun.

You are important as his girlfriend, fiancée, or wife, but what if his childhood was taken away before he even knew that it was okay to have fun? Maybe it's just me, but I keep seeing girls, women, left and right complaining they their man is doing something they don't necessarily approve of. Agree with me, don't agree with me, petition me to salute the officer's wife wearing civvies, but you can't deny the fact that they deserve to have fun, too.