NATCHEZ &045;&045; Laughter, a few tears and lots of talk of prayer were on the agenda Wednesday evening as wives and mothers of National Guard troops gathered for a support group meeting.

Members’ loved ones are part of Mississippi’s 155th Infantry, which has just been mobilized for deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

&uot;This is a pretty trying time, but you can make it through,&uot; said Bishop James Calhoun, Natchez police chaplain and a Vietnam veteran who has volunteered to help work with the women in the group.

Calhoun encouraged the women to &uot;get beyond the anger.&uot;

&uot;All of a sudden your loved one is getting snatched out from under you,&uot; he said. &uot;When you get past that, you find your prayers are more important than anger.&uot;

The small gathering is made up of women experienced in seeing their husbands or sons go overseas, as well as younger wives being separated by war for the first time.

Family readiness coordinator Sharon Goodrich brings a wealth of experience to the group. She was a military daughter, wife and mother.

&uot;It’s not going to be easy, but the experience of being a military wife will make you stronger,&uot; she told the group. &uot;You’ll be able to just about handle anything.&uot;

And handling anything should be wives’ priority while their husbands are away, advised Carolyn Verucchi, whose husband Donnie served in Vietnam. Verucchi is incoming president of the VFW Auxiliary for Mississippi.

&uot;Not only is he going to war, but so are you,&uot; she said. &uot;You have to be the man of the house. You have to handle everything.&uot;

Verucchi had limited contact with her husband while he was overseas, sometimes receiving a letter only every four or five weeks. But she said she made sure whatever contact they had was special.

&uot;A positive attitude is the secret,&uot; she said. &uot;If you don’t have a prayerful life, you will.&uot;

Calhoun, Goodrich and Verucchi dispensed advice on spiritual and practical matters throughout the meeting, fielding questions about everything from communication during the guard’s deployment to legal matters.

They didn’t have all the answers, but they have resources to find out.

Goodrich’s husband, John, who is director of Adams County’s Red Cross chapter, told the women his organization can act as a &uot;messenger boy&uot; to help deliver life-changing information &045;&045; such as births or deaths in the family &045;&045; to the soldiers overseas.

But Goodrich also had personal advice about how the women themselves can deliver other &uot;bad news&uot; &045;&045; such as major problems with the house or a favorite dog dying. &uot;You can temper that bad news somehow,&uot; he said. &uot;You know how to approach him. You can yank his chain or you can gently pull.&uot;

Many of the women’s questions didn’t have answers yet, because no one knows for sure how long the deployment might be or whether the Guard troops will have any time to come home between their training at Camp Shelby and Fort Irwin and their actual deployment to the Middle East.

Not knowing whether their husbands might be home for Christmas was hard to take, but Sharon Goodrich offered some experienced advice.

&uot;Once the military has your husband, he belongs to them,&uot; she said. &uot;Once you understand that, it will save a lot of frustration.&uot; Anyone interested in joining or donating can call Goodrich at 446-6345.