Long-distance relationships are hard. Imagine having to be away from your loved one for 12-15 months, with a short two-week get-together somewhere in the middle of that. Phone conversations are short, when you do get to have them. Say you're lucky enough to get one every three days; you have so much to tell him, but not enough time to say it all. You make mental notes to include the things you couldn't tell him over the phone in your next e-mail. E-mail has become your lifeline and you check it at least three times a day. But eventually, all of the things you once shared with your loved one, that seemed so important before you were separated, aren't so much anymore. When that two-week get-together finally comes around, you're so busy trying to catch up on all the sex you missed out on and running around with him to visit the other people in his life who missed him (you didn't think you were the only one, did you?), that the two weeks are over in a blink of an eye, and you wonder where the time went. As time progresses, you learn to do things your own way because he's not around to give you his perspective. He gets busier as he nears the end of his time away — you're not really sure what he does over there anyway. Phone calls and e-mails grow sparse. In the beginning of your separation, you kept to yourself because you missed him, but by now, you've learned to enjoy your life and go out, have a good time. You still miss him, but there are so many distractions in your life that it doesn't hurt as badly as it did before.

And then he comes home, half-expecting the you he knew before he left. Half-expecting things to have never changed.

From a story on ABCNews.com:

In Iraq, the latest survey by Army mental health experts showed that more than 15 percent of married soldiers deployed there were planning a divorce, with the rates for soldiers at the late stages of deployment triple those of recent arrivals.

It kind of makes sense, doesn't it?