PREP Wife Nows Gets It

I'm happy to report that my wife, who was formerly DGI now has seen the light. As many of you may know from my posts in the prep rooms, I have been an enthusiastic student of survivalism since 1979 when I read The Stand. The concept fascinated me. There were no such thing as the Internet back then, no easy access to information. Instead I gleaned every tidbit of info that I could from Paladin Press, Civil Defense manuals, Kurt Saxon, Bradford Angier, and the Foxfire series.

Right from the beginning, I got grief from my wife. I would speak of buying guns, and stocking up food, and what we should do during a nuclear attack, and all I got was rolled eyes and evasiveness. Bringing home a copy of American Survival Guide would garner dirty looks, and the silent treatment.

Over the years, I still studied survivalism, but on the down-low. Occaisionally, I would refer to it briefly, just to test the waters. Things got better over time, and she soon became more accommodating of my interests, yet not willing to participate - or admit that what I believed would actually happen.

Time passed.

The last few years, I have been serious - very serious about prepping and protecting what I have. By now I've dismissed my wife's intolerance, and decided that I love her, and that I need to do this thing (preps, self-sufficiency and protection) with or without her, because I think she's worth saving. After all, we were married for better or for worse, right? Just because she is DGI, why should I stop things already in progress?

So it looks like my patience and hard work has finally paid off.

During the massive ice storm we had up here in December, we went eight solid days and nights without power. We had to let my brother and his wife stay with us because a tree fell on their house. We had a pretty good time.

We were warm, dry, and comfortable. We ate like kings, and we all were thankful because it could have been a lot worse. During all this, my wife woke up. She finally saw the fruits of my labor, and being of sound New England Yankee stock, she saw the value in it. Everthing I ever told her, everything she dismissed, or waved off as being silly all came rushing in on her.

Now she's enthusiastic about learning a little more, but still relies heavily on me to lead the way. She now knows the value of my comments about my desire to get a manual well pump, or build a cistern. I guess that's what it will have to be, and I thank my lucky stars.

I hope this gives some encouragement to some of you out there who also may have a spouse or significant other with less-than-amicable attitude towards your prepping. God Bless!

Mechanic,

How wonderful for your family!! It is so much easier when a partnership exists with the same direction and goals.

My husband has always believed in prepping, but pretty much left it up to me to do as far as the food end of it, however he is FAR more organized than I am and this weekend went in and helped me sort all preps, get rid of expired stuff and log everything. I feel such relief!! I can now see the holes and will fill those in. I am just glad to have him as my partner.

You are indeed a lucky man. Thanks for sharing.

Mechanic... that's great!

I think for many of the DGI's, their problem is thinking about the "big, bad and ugly" things that many mention as their reasons to prep... nuclear war, pandemic, EMP... you know the list.

AND, they've lived in a time of amazing stability and plenty, where the country/world as a whole was so wealthy that even major disasters, as long as they were relatively localized (hurricanes, ice storms) were met with giant concerted relief efforts... and while some were certainly less than perfect, and many small stories of immense hardship never get printed or told, by and large, there just haven't been many good examples of people whose lives were saved or simply made much easier because they were prepped.

The Mormon church has been good about telling people to prepare, but they emphasize ALL the reasons- job loss, extended illness, etc... not just the "biggies". And I think those are much easier for most people to grasp as being "possible".

My hubby has always been pretty cooperative, and of course, a lot of my "prepping" is simply a normal part of our lifestyles... farming and homesteading. He gave me a bit of gentle grief when Y2k didn't materialize to the extent we were prepared for, but I suspect that was more because he opened himself up to some ridicule at work by talking about it... something I'd suggested he NOT do more than once! And yet, he also noticed that there *were* some glitches, in the form of not being able to get some parts for our Subaru for almost 4 months, and some other problems in imported items for the farm for a bit.

But he has come to realize how useful my preps are... during the year I spent in and out of the hospital (and mostly bedridden when I was home) due to the MRSA bone infection, he literally fed 4 kids from our preps for the entire year. And he's grateful when my extensive first aid supplies (and knowledge) save us a trip to the ER.

His biggest concern is probably that I not spend too much money (which is always scarce around here!) on things which may never get used. And I understand that. I did insist on getting some radiation monitoring equipment from Shane, although it was a huge expenditure for us, and it's one prep I hope and pray we NEVER need. But I've shown him during our occasional inventory and organization days how very little has ever been wasted... I doubt I've had to toss $50 worth of food which got spoiled, over a 20 year period. I've also shown him how the extra expense of mylar bags, oxygen absorbers and good buckets is well worth it... because of the extra storage life they provide.

I don't think he'll ever be the "doomer" that I can be... but that's probably a good thing! He DOES now tell me when he notices that we're getting low on something, or when he takes something out of my storage.

I'll bet you felt 10 feet tall when you were able to provide for your wife and extended family in comfort, didn't you?

Summerthyme

I am blessed to have a wife who is as wacked out a survivalist as I am.. We have even been going to Front Sight together and she loves it..And is quite a good shot with her Glock 22.. She can cover my six... She has applied for her 30 state concealed carry from Utah.. And she is quite the little prepper even surprising me sometimes..God could not have given me a better mate and I thank Him for his blessing.. I pray that everyone who has a DGI for a mate will be as blessed as I am soon...Just hang in there and keep on lovin em...

ELK.....................
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Are your brother and his wife now convinced as well?

Nice. I just left the Northeast for a bit because I can't convince anybody of the need to prepare. Nuclear war survival there will be very difficult. I'm hoping maybe I can convince people to relocate to safer areas since I don't think there'll be enough time to get people to make the necessary preparations there. Their best bet will be to leave on short notice once there's a chemical SCUD missile on Israel.....what I've warned everyone will be the 'trigger' event per my 1991 'vision'.

Mechanic! Woo-Hoo! My DH still thinks i"m nuts to have stored water, etc,etc

A very big wooohooo congrats. And yes I also what to know if the brother and wife now get it.

big congrats buddy!! rowing the boat is easier when both people are going in the same direction.
it's amazing how clear things become sometime when they are moved from
"speculation" to "reality".

I'm just amazed when I read of some posters that have gone thru several hurricanes and yet their spouses still "don't get it".
slow learners I guess!!

A blizzard is what turned my DGI into a GI. Congratulations.

I always told my husband that he would kneel in front of me and do salaams if TSHTF and my preps bailed us out. He said, "I guess you've earned it," and willingly obliged.

Sweet......

Prep wife

Mechanic, having two people working together is a big plus. Congrats, may continued blessings come your'e way. Personally my wife does not want to hear what i say because it scares her. Although we went through a smaller period of no power ( 1 1/2 days ) we were prepared somewhat to handle it. This is what i think is starting to wake her up. I recieved a coleman lantern and a 5 gal. water purification kit for christmas this year as well as many socks. She knows these are some of the things we will need in the future. Getting her to buy things we would really need and can live on was a big step from frivolous things that really have no use. I have her support to prep as i please because deep down i know she sees the world we are in. She is just not ready to face the world i see. Good luck!

Be Safe
To kill the vampires you must lead them into the light

Fantastic, Mechanic! Congratulations. That is a huge positive step in your ability to prep and take care of your family. Support is invaluable.

Thats great, and many of here do not have that going for us. How do you explain that you need to save up for a rainy day (hard times) but its not money in the bank your saving up but food & other supplies while the buying and building up a supply can be done, because after the SHTF it to late to do these things.

God Bless you all, and thank you so much for the kind remarks.

Brother and his wife are seriously-DGI. This recent blackout was a huge source of frustration for them. They were paralyzed with boredom. My sister-in-law knits obessively; its her stress-buster. She was semi-okay. My bro on the other hand has no hobbies that require manual dexterity, and contemplative reasoning skills. He wouldn't even read a book. He is so addicted to the Internet and electronic media that he can't fathom even an hour without electricity.

Worst of all, they wouldn't... COULDN'T pull their own weight. Linda and I did everything. We cooked and cleaned and lugged wood, and shovelled snow, while they just sat... numb from it all. Its like the lights out were really out for them as well - like they were in shock.

I love them both very much, but I have a lot of work to do.

Funny story about my brother...

When I was in my 20's, as a young GI, I came home on leave and my brother and friends would all hang out, do some drinking, and one time we got an idea to go camping. There was a decent campsite that we wanted to try that was way out on some logging roads couple miles away. At the campsite we got a fire going and started doing some drinking and horsing around, punching each other, swilling beers... you know, guy stuff! My brother had a couple beers, but he's never been a drinker. The sun set and it started getting cold.

When it was time to turn in, it had turned off pretty cold. You could see you breath, and it was the kind of damp chill that seeps into your bones and no matter what you wore for clothing, you were still chilled. We settled into our bags, but the guys were grumbling. One sat up and just stayed by the fire.

Before long, my brother got up, and without saying a word, walked over to his truck. He started it up and drove off, leaving us stranded, scratching our heads in disbelief. We stocked up the fire and warmed up a little. By now, the beer buzz was leaving a headache and a growling stomach on a few of us. I was beginning to wonder how long we'd have to stay out there, and if we'd freeze to death.

Of course, there was the compulsory bitching and complaining about my brother. He was sure going to get it when we saw him again, and blah blah blah. After about 25 minutes of this, we saw some lights coming up the trail, and through the trees came my brother. We all just stood there, mouths agape with wonder and... anger. Half of us wanted to kill him, and the other half wanted to hug him.

My brother didnt even say hello. He nodded at us and walked around to the back of the pickup and pulled out my father's little kawasaki generator... and an electric blanket!

He carried the genny and his blanket to his tent, and pulled the starter cord. The genny instantly fired into life, and purred. My brother plugged in the blanket, went inside his tent, and zipped it closed from the inside.

All of us were in shock, and some called him names, and I guess I was one of them. Someone threw a half-drained beer at his tent, which made a soft landing against the side, and rolled off. through all of this, my brother remained silent, and after we calmed down, we could hear him snoring.

I've never forgiven him for that. Neither has any of the guys that went with us that night. I don't ever let him forget what a tenderfoot he is.

So I guess this gives you some insight into his character, and now you can tell that when I say that my work is cut out for me (getting him to see why he should prep and be self-sufficient), you'll know why!

maybe next time (and you KNOW there will be one) meet him at the door and tell him you haven't replenished your supplies and there isn't enough to go around this time.
then suggest he go get dad's genny and the electric blanket. after all, it worked once before.
then suggest maybe it's time he started watching out for himself for a change instead of waiting for someone else to take care of him in tough times.

tough love, ya know?

Well, Since I'm going to be alone in the not so distant future, I ain't gonna be worrying about a DGI SO ever again.

Walrus Whisperer said:

Well, Since I'm going to be alone in the not so distant future, I ain't gonna be worrying about ever again.

Click to expand...

What do you mean?

I dunno, Mechanic, it sounds like your brother is pretty self sufficient to me. He saw what he needed and took care of it, per your story. He might surprise you once he gets over his electronics jones, and turn out to be quite an asset.

I'd have asked them both to help out, it would make the time go by faster for them and help them feel more in control of their situation. Or make them so mad they'd vow never to hunker down with you again and thus figure out how to do some minor prepping!

WW, you alright? Your cryptic post is a bit unnerving...

Well if it ever happens again, before I even let them in the door, there would be some ground rules. In no uncertain terms, I'd let them know you won't let them make a servant out of your wife. That they will pull their own weight or you're throwing their stuff out the front door into the cold. No exceptions! I bet this wakes them up.

MM

I sure do agree that some MAJOR changes would have to be made in terms of what sort of behavior is allowed before I helped them out again!

Sorry... "being in shock" could be somewhat tolerated (for a SHORT time) if there had been a REAL disaster- you know, a nuke, or the sort of massive destruction Katrina or other 'canes or earthquakes cause.

But good grief- these "adults" were literally "shocked" into utter uselessness and immobility by the lack of HEAT and CONVENIENCES??? Blood or not, I'd be thinking real hard right now about whether I could afford to help them again.

Of course, here, they wouldn't have gotten away with it for more than about twenty minutes! I can do a REAL good drill seargent impression when I have to...comes from raising four kids on a farm! LOL! I would have simply admired the latest knitting project, and then said something like "once we get this wood stacked, and the supper dishes finished, you'll be able to get back to it".

And I'd have NO problem enforcing "anyone who doesn't help, doesn't eat".

At least it was educational... you know now that you'll have your work cut out for you if you want to help them again, without being turned into slaves and servants. Sigh...

Summerthyme

It sure makes it easier when both the husband and the wife are on the same page of the same playbook... congrats!

My wife was a DGI until Hurricane Katrina. That storm opened her eyes to not only prepping but also to understanding why she needed to CCW.

It has made my life easier when it comes time to up the supplies and ammo... and even when I start drooling over a new gun!