Extreme ups & downs

by Katie

I have been with my trucker fiance for many years. We will be married September 2013. As a company driver, he was leaving the house around 1 am & not getting home until 8-10 pm .

I would have dinner ready for him when he came home ; he would eat , fall asleep maybe 15 min later & the cycle would repeat . I was alone all of the time except for the 40 min he was awake after work . He decided to buy a truck & start his own company leasing his truck to another company.

I rode with him everyday, staying up for several days at a time running up & down the east coast.
We came home for a couple hours every 3-4 weeks. The company wasn't making enough money & the paychecks were hardly covering the bills plus his truck payment.So he went to another company. This one would not let him take anyone with him for insurance liability reasons.

So I once again was home alone, sleeping alone, waking up alone for 3 weeks at a time only to have him come home 1-2 days & leave once again. This company started cheating him out of money & put him on slow pay for running too many hours, so financially we fell downhill again .

He decided to lease his truck to his father , who is now running my fiance's truck & my fiance went to go work for a company running cement . He now leaves the house around midnight-3 am & is gone until 6-8 pm . I stay home & clean all day. He eats & then falls asleep after coming home. He works everyday except Sundays sometimes .. & on those days , we spend the entire day washing, waxing, polishing & cleaning the inside of the truck .

It has been extremely challenging being a truckers wife . Some days you wonder why life is like this & other days you take it as a blessing that you have your soulmate - even though you are very distant .

It takes a very strong woman to be a truckers wife . His ex wife left him after a year of marriage , so its not for everyone . She couldn't handle it apparently .

I have been through many difficult things in my life . So many things have gone on in my personal life , too many to explain & many of which I am still trying to figure out 'why?' But I love my fiance with all my heart & hopefully things get better .

To all you truckers wives , fiances , girlfriends - stay strong & keep your heads up ! Take everything one day at a time :)