CRESTVIEW — In our military community, Father’s Days often roll around to find many local dads deployed abroad with the armed forces or military contractors.
Families understand their fathers’ and husbands’ jobs require them to be gone during certain times of the year, and have developed ways to cope with their absence until they return home, including having a cyber “presence.”
Here are some local families’ suggestions.
Deanna Perry
Husband: Dustin Perry
Children: Hannah, 10, Gunnar, 6, and Gentry, 4
“One year we went to the beach and he was able to Skype with us while we were on the beach,” Perry said of her husband. “I had him on the phone and it was like he was really there. He got to be on the beach with us. I would take (the kids) to do things they liked to do with Daddy, like take them to the fishing hole. Skyping is the main thing, taking time to spend time with him. We had ‘daddy dolls,’ too.”
Kristal Petruzzi
Husband: Tony Petruzzi
Children: Jasper, 16, and Jonas, 10
“We visit with my mom and dad and with my family,” she said, referring to how she and their sons cope with her husband’s absence. “We Skype back and forth if he has the ability. We take pictures most everywhere we go and send them to him. If we go to the movies we take pictures of us in front of the movie poster. We love road trips, so we take pictures wherever we go. We try to act like he’s still here with us.”
Nicole Weaver
Husband: Andrew Weaver
Children: Zoe, 11, Jonathan, 10, Benjamin, 8, and Lily 6
“We Skype a lot so the kids can tell Daddy what's new or going on in their lives,” she said. “Paint pictures for Daddy! And try to have the same routine as we usually have when Daddy is home. We spend more time together because only one parent is home. Every Wednesday we have a game night!”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: When Daddy's deployed: Crestview military wives' Father's Day advice