Everyone deals with separation differently. I’m not an old hand yet so I notice every little difference in myself. These include benign things such as getting a bit sad when I don’t have to buy whiskey or wash his socks (who would have thought that you could miss this stuff). Other things are less harmless, such as having a short fuse and being welded to radio 4 news. There is no doubt in my mind that stress levels within a family rise whilst a family member is away.
It’s not just that suddenly you become effectively single, though this is a challenge: I hate not having the person I love around and available to help me practically and emotionally. But what I have noticed is that I am stressed on an instinctive level.
My fight or flight instinct (of which I have far more fight than flight) is cranked up on his behalf. How could it not be – he’s the other half of me. I have made an effort to meditate but that quiet time fills with love yet my body will not step down from ‘alert’. The worst part is that I don’t know what it is like where he is. If I did then maybe I could relax into this. But for humans, fear of the unknown is fundamental and so I worry and get grumpy.
Other odd behaviour happening when he’s away includes:
Sleeping with a pair of his unwashed underwear under my pillow
Wearing his clothes
Obsessively checking fb and email
Having to go away at weekends because staying at home makes me sad
Eating fish and chips
Brit Army Bird
British Army Bird Blog 
this is hilarious! so glad that you have a sense of humor about all of this! My boyfriend of four years just left for training and your blog is so light-hearted I can’t help but feel better!