I could never go to the station and wave goodbye
I couldn’t hold back tears I was ashamed I would cry
Every time was the same, with me he could drown
For a submariner’s girl I was a complete let down

I should have been used to the way that it goes
Dad did 35 years and it kept Mum on her toes
She’d keep a smile on her face at the end of the quay
She was a strong navy wife and not one bit like me

Mum would keep all her tears for the end of the day
Send them off with a smile, it’s the price that you pay
Loving a man in uniform is a very hard way of life
You will go through hell many times if you become his wife

I think of Mum now and what she must have gone through
When dad went back to sea and she didn’t know where to
If he would get hit by a U boat or blown from out of the sky
The Atlantic, Med or Pacific, she dreaded he could die

Now I am a Grandma and more women go through
The same heartache and worry that my Mum had to do
I salute every wife and woman with a daughter or a son
Who bravely smiles as they go and do what has to be done

All forces wives and mothers are a special breed
Strong women who can live by a different creed
Facing long lonely nights of gut wrenching fear
That will not go away until their loved one is near

Show support for the dear ones the troops leave behind
In some ways their enemy is worse so try to be kind
Fear doesn’t show clearly but their eyes show the pain
Pray for them that their loved ones come home again