If you are engaged to marry a seafarer or someone who is out there employed to deal with life in the middle of the ocean, crossing international ports and timezones, be prepared to be strong enough to hold the role as a wife and answer these questions.
Assume as a single parent
Are you ready to assume the role of a single parent for your kids while your husband and the child’s father are out there making a living?
Ready to be alone
Are you ready to live most of the time alone while the husband is on duty abroad?
Plenty of trust
Are you trusting enough that he won’t be swayed by colleagues or friends who influence him to fool around with other women?
Prepare to face rumors and hear gossips
Are you ready to deal with rumormongers who spread false stories about your husband flirting with someone while you are away?
Being ready to face risks that come with the job
Do you have tough nerves to handle news about sea pirates, stormy weather, or accidents involving seafarers?
Understanding communication gaps
Are you ready to accept the fact that even when you have time off from work at home, he can’t be reached by phone or Facebook messenger due to timezone difference or no Internet connectivity issues?
Deliver baby alone
Are you ready to deliver the baby, if you’re pregnant, without his comforting presence?
Acceptance of current work arrangement
Are you prepared to accept that in a year, you are fortunate to be with him even just for five months?
Ready to face mocks and teases
Can you deal with teases by friends when they hear relatable “long-distance relationship” songs such as “Magkabilang Mundo”?
Prepared to adjust for life after abroad
Are you ready to adjust that when he finally goes home for good — and you’ll finally be a complete family — remittance suddenly runs dry?
Ready to forgive unmet promises
Are you patient enough to deal with broken promises — failure to call on agreed time or take a vacation for your kid’s birthday — because of work commitments or he’s exhausted from his duty?
Ready to accept impact on children
Are you ready to accept that your child may not recognize his or her father because he was away for so long?
Indeed it’s often not easy to be a wife of a seafarer. When you’re marrying a seafarer, you need patience, understanding, and nerves of steel to get maintain that strong relationship, owing to that quotation “only a strong woman can love a seaman.” Pray for him, trust him, take care of him, and as long as you can handle it, don’t give up the relationship once it encounters a stormy phase.