Keep the Home Fires Burning: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Let no tears add to their hardships''<br />

''As the soldiers pass along,''<br />

''And although your heart is breaking,''<br />

''Make it sing this cheery song:''<br />

''Keep the Home Fires Burning,''<br />

''While your hearts are yearning.''<br />

''Though your lads are far away''<br />

''They dream of home.''<br />

''There's a silver lining''<br />

''Through the dark clouds shining,''<br />

''Turn the dark cloud inside out''<br />

'''Til the boys come home.''|Ivor Novello & Lena Ford, "[http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/keepthehomefiresburning.htm Keep the Home-Fires Burning]"}}

* [[Superhero|Superheroes]]es: Arguably the most stressful for families of all. Regular combat deployment with little warning or time off, since [[The Hero]] is always "on call"; enemies out for blood; and if [[The Hero]]'s [[Secret Identity|identity is secret]], there are few people their loved ones can turn to for support.

Can lead to [[Unfortunate Implications]] when the act of waiting is portrayed as passive, the spouse left to endure is [[Always Female]], or the waiting person is put in a negative light if not a perfect, patient [[Proper Lady]] -- happy—happy to stay home while [[The Hero]] wanders afield having adventures. Can also deconstruct the facade of a proud military family by realistically depicting the [[Stepford Smiler]]-levels of emotional stress and isolation that [[My Girl Back Home]] shoulders with [[Heroic Resolve]], as well as the accepted but implicit pain caused when [[The Hero]] chooses [[LovedDuty I NotFirst, HonorLove MoreSecond]].

The [[Determined Homesteader's Wife]] can be this, if she doesn't wind up the [[Determined Widow]]. See also [[Home, Sweet Home]].

* [[Lampshaded]] in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDB8p-2pcRo this] [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:USAA |USAA]] ad, "Two Kinds of Heroes."

* ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'': [[Fiery Redhead|Mary Jane Watson-Parker]] struggles between her desire to support [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|Peter Parker]] in his role as Spider-Man and her real fear that ''this'' time could be the night she sent her husband out to die. This is notably a factor in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130827212605/http://spiderfan.org/comics/reviews/spiderman_web/031.html Kraven's Last Hunt] storyline when {{spoiler|for two weeks MJ doesn't know if Peter is dead}}.

* The French film ''[[A Very Long Engagement]]'' is about a woman (played by [[Audrey Tautou]]) trying to find out what happened to her fiance who fought in [[World War OneI]].

* [[Literature/You Know When The Men Are Gone|You Know When The Men Are Gone]] by [http://siobhanfallon.com/ Siobhan Fallon] is a collection of short stories focused mainly on the inner lives of U.S. military families waiting in Fort Hood. Fallon is herself a military wife.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150918190528/http://plagiarist.com/poetry/1957/ "Penelope"], a short and searing poem by [[Dorothy Parker]], from the perspective of [[The Odyssey (Literature)|Odysseus's wife]].

* The poem [http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-ancient-gesture/ "An Ancient Gesture"] by [[Edna St. Vincent Millay]], also about [[The Odyssey (Literature)|Penelope]].

{{quote| Your arms get tired, and the back of your neck gets tight;<br />

And along towards morning, when you think it will never be light,<br />

And your husband has been gone, and you don't know where, for years.<br />

Suddenly you burst into tears;<br />

== [[Live -Action TelevisionTV]] ==

* ''[[Army Wives (TV)|Army Wives]]''

* The British [[World War I]] patriotic song "[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_the_Home_Fires_Burning_:Keep the Home Fires Burning (1914_song)1914 song)|Keep the Home-Fires Burning ('Till the Boys Come Home)]]."

{{quote| ''And in a way, I wish I was you<br />

''Heading cross-country with a dream to pursue<br />

''I guess til now I never knew<br />

''How much it sucks to be the one who’s left behind<br />

''You’re off in the great unknown<br />

''When I’m stuck here all alone }}

* Ithaca's queen [[Determined Homesteader's Wife|Penelope]] in ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]'', of course.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100420070941/http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324.html Dogs Welcoming Home Soldiers.] "These reunion videos—for me, at least—shed a tiny beam of light on how emotionally draining being a military family can be. [[Precious Puppies|They'll also make you want a dog.]]"