NORFOLK, Va. — As the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) prepares to return to Hampton Roads, families across the region are counting down to long-awaited reunions after a deployment that stretched close to a year.
For one Navy spouse, that countdown comes with a mix of emotion, anticipation and reflection after months of time apart.
“So it’s been almost a year… it’s felt like about seven years,” Lisa said. “We’ve missed every holiday, every anniversary… everything.”
Lisa’s husband is one of thousands of sailors aboard the Ford, the largest aircraft carrier in the world, which has been operating overseas for months. Like many military families, she expected the deployment to last a certain amount of time — but that timeline kept changing.
“They extended it 30 days… then another 30 days… and then it was like two and a half months,” she said. “And I was like, you know what? I’ll see you when you get back at this point.”
Those repeated extensions, she said, made it difficult to plan — and even harder emotionally.
“It’s a lot of like torturing yourself thinking about all the things you’re going to miss… like this holiday… that baptism… it’s just… it’s a lot,” Lisa said.
Even staying connected hasn’t always been easy.
“There are times where like the Wi-Fi’s off… and sometimes you don’t know why,” she said. “Sometimes you wake up and you look at the news and you’re like, oh… that’s why I haven’t heard from him.”
Despite those challenges, Lisa says she’s found ways to adapt — building routines, leaning on her support system and finding an outlet through social media.
“I have a bunch of different types of content,” she said. “But I started doing military content not too long ago… and the only reason why I’m still really pushing it more is because I get the most messages from people about it… people saying how much they finally feel seen.”
She says messages often come from other spouses experiencing deployment for the first time.
“People that are like, ‘my husband just left, and I don’t know what this is like… what can I expect?’” she said. “If I can help people through a seven second video… that’s amazing.”
Now, with the Ford expected to return in the coming weeks, her focus has shifted from getting through the days… to preparing for the moment she’s been waiting for.
“I’m going to cry. He says I’m going to cry,” Lisa said. “It’s going to feel like—not real… like the other day, we were like, I haven’t even touched you, like hand wise, in a year. Like this is so crazy to me.”
She’s already planning how she wants to welcome him home.
“I’m gonna have a banner, and everything’s gonna be decorated the night before,” she said. “I’m gonna make banana bread muffins… he requested a chocolate cake… and brownies. We’re gonna eat. That’s that hobby we share.”
For Lisa, it’s those simple, personal moments — not the big gestures — that have kept her going.
“It’s just like… coming home to him,” she said. “That’s what gets you through the day.”
And as the ship makes its way back to Norfolk, she says she’s ready — for the emotions, the reunion, and the chance to finally be together again.
“I’m just… ready to jump on him,” she said.
For families across Hampton Roads, that moment on the dock can’t come soon enough.
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