An army wife life is no bed of roses

The life of an army wife is no bed of roses. Your husband thinks and acts every inch like the lord of the manor. He wants you to stay home and confine your talents to taking care of the kids and minding the house. He expects you to make friends with your fellow army wives.

But that doesn’t mean you should shut up and play it coy when you think your husband is getting the short end of the stick.

At least that’s what Claudia Joy Holden (played by Emmy awardee Kim Delaney) does as colonel’s wife on Hallmark Channel’s Army Wives (premieres May 8, 9 p.m. with encore telecasts on May 9, 1 a.m. and May 18, 3 p.m.).

Like most Pinay wives, Claudia Joy has taken the vow of obedience where her husband is concerned. But she’s no pushover. Much like the Pinay wife, Claudia Joy flies to her husband’s defense when needed. She doesn’t mince words when talking about how ugly politics has bungled her husband’s chances of promotion.

Army wives must grapple with issues about single motherhood since their husbands are away on duty half the time. So they have to be strong and be their own best friend. Better yet, they have to seek solace in other people (their fellow army wives) when the going gets tough.

The situation mirrors the growing phenomenon of single moms staring today’s Pinays in the eye. Like the army wives, today’s Pinay mothers must be strong, and learn to rely on themselves and others to raise their children and deal with their day-to-day problems.

This brings us back to Delaney, herself a single mom to a teenaged son in real life. The Irish-American actress knows the joys and pains of single motherhood the way Claudia Joy, who must grapple with issues regarding her daughter while her husband Michael does.

She also loves to throw parties for people close to her the way her character does.

But the similarities end there. Unlike the happily-married Claudia Joy, Delaney has chosen to stay single. Her challenge in Army Wives, therefore, lies in playing a character so different from her in real life.

“The biggest challenge,” she notes, “is making it real.”

And so she went the extra mile to make it real. Delaney talked to Tanya Biank, who wrote the non-fiction book which inspired the TV series.

“I read the book and simply couldn’t put it down. I like the story and the writing,” Delaney relates.

She also met one of the army wives who shared her rich experiences. Delaney also talked to a taxi driver who regaled her with stories about army wives he met.

The series itself was shot in an army camp, where Delaney met more people from whom she can learn more about an army wife’s checkered life.

The result is an engaging, romantic and funny encounter with life on the army camp and how wives make the most of the moment. Army Wives is not just a story about military life. It’s also a tale of love, intrigue and pathos.

Army wives, after all, are no different from you and me. They just happen to live in a camp their civilian counterparts usually know next to nothing about.

It’s time we take a peek into their world and learn from them, too.