Mariners are those who work at the high sea. They spend months away from family and friends. They work for shipping companies. Once they are in a contract they cannot take leaves unless it is an emergency or a health concern.
Marriage is a companionship. We all get married with a dream that we will get a companion who will always be there with us emotionally and physically and support us.
We will today look at the marriages of mariners. Diary of a mariner’s wife is an interesting one as these marriages are definitely not normal like other marriages. The sacrifices and compromises that a mariner’s wife has to do are beyond imagination.
Diary of a mariner’s wife starts with a young women who meets and eventually falls in love with this very handsome mariner. They get married and she dreams how she will set the new home, cook for her husband and spend some time exclusively with her new husband. However, the very next day of her marriage she is informed by her husband that he has to report on duty as there is an emergency. He leaves her and rushes to the ship.
For days she might not as well hear from her husband as he is off to the sea where there is no net and mobile connection. It might be possible for her husband to contact her only when he is nearing a port or his ship is docked. She will have to set the house all on her own.
She has to do the daily houses hold courses all by her. Weekends she either has to spend with her parents or friends. Loneliness and the longing for her partner are only going to increase with time. The only option she has now is to get used to this life and wait for her husband to return. If she is working and has a career of her own the pangs of loneliness will definitely be less. It becomes more difficult for those who are not working. Due to advanced technology she perhaps could video chat with her husband when he has landed in port city. She can talk to him over phone and get some relief. Imagine if in between there is a crisis and she needs to contact her husband immediately she will not be able to.
After a span of three months or so the husband will return back home. The Diary of a mariner’s wife now has a happy tone as her husband is with her and they are spending a good time together. They might go for trips and enjoy all they missed in the last few months. However, these happy moments are also going to get over as the husband will have to leave in a month’s time. The moment of parting is definitely painful. Some time the wife might want to go to the ship.
Well it is not possible for anyone to stay on a ship for months. Even if she goes to the ship she cannot leave it in between. The life on the ship is not a normal life as at home. She might get sea sickness. The idea of accompanying your husband on the ship is possible only when you are not working. No company will give its employee a month long leave just to be with her husband on the ship.
Diary of a mariner’s wife now enters a more complex phase as she gets to know that she is pregnant. The first reaction should be to inform her husband but that is not possible as they cannot communicate all the time. The wife will have to take care of herself. She will have to visit the doctor all on her own and perhaps sometimes even deliver the child alone.
The husband might come later as it is not always possible to get the exact date of delivery. The mariner will miss the moment of his child’s birth and a major part of its upbringing. The mariner’s wife will have to mostly raise the child on her own.
This is exactly why the mariner’s wife might have to leave her job as she has no support at home. It is difficult to manage the house, child and job all at the same time and without the help from her husband. Diary of a mariner’s wife often reflects a sense of frustration and anger. The challenges that she has to face are huge. Most of the important events in her married life will be without the presence of her husband.
Diary of a mariner’s wife often mentions how she alone has to look after a sick child. She needs a mental support around her but she is not able to get it as the husband is at the sea and cannot come to her. It is more than often that the husband does not even know the situation as he cannot be reached.
Diary of a mariner’s wife is definitely a huge example of true love and devotion that a wife can have for her husband. Every marriage has its own story of ups and downs but the marriage of a mariner is definitely different. If you are planning to marry a mariner you must be aware that you cannot have a rosy married life. You will have to be a very strong woman mentally to get into this marriage.
Diary Of A Mariner's Wife,
