A Bittersweet Goodbye…

When I graduated from college, I wasn’t sure where my degree would take me.

The only thing I really knew is that I loved writing and it was my hope that perhaps I could use my skills to create something that I could be proud to associate with my name.

After college, my husband and I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia. During his first deployment, a mil spouse friend and I tried to create a digital magazine focused on the music scene in Charlottesville.

However, our ambitions were too haughty because despite months of hard work, our efforts never came to fruition.

Shortly after my husband returned from Afghanistan, we moved to Washington.

The following year, I noticed an opportunity to become a contributor for a blog called “Loving A Soldier”, which was part of the Army Wife Network.

To put this timeline in perspective, it was around 2013. 

I thought about what to write and decided to talk about what my first real experience living on base was like. 

My blog was accepted, and I became a regular contributor for Loving A Soldier.

This eventually morphed into Mission Milspouse-to include other spouses in other branches of the military, evolving with the times.

After writing for many years regularly, I stepped back a bit to keep up with the demands of motherhood.

But I never stopped thinking about the importance of this online community that was created by other military spouses in the wake of two very intense wars.  

For so many of us, this blog was a lifeline, and another part of our very small but somewhat vast community.

After 12 years as a contributor, I can’t believe that the time has come for a new chapter in this story.

I have been so grateful to find a way to share my own perspective and experiences as a military spouse.

As a very seasoned spouse, I know how different our lives can be, even within our own community.

To this day it is something that many outside our community find mysterious and inconceivable.

I know our contributions have helped to change the narrative and even erase some of that mystery. 

I hope that these years as a contributor have brought some light to the many facets of our lives as spouses of service members.

I hope that my stories have found their way into the world and made someone smile, laugh, cry, think and maybe even help to know that someone else understands how that person might feel. 

The end is bittersweet. I can never truly explain my gratitude.

To the ladies who have taken on bigger roles through the years, thank you for all your hard work.

This experience wouldn’t be the same without you.

To the ladies who created this online community and opportunity, thank you so much for putting our stories into the world, and humanizing military families. 

Even more so, thank you for giving me a chance to contribute to your mission.

To my spouse, thank you for taking me on this ride with you.

To the readers of Mission Milspouse, thank you for reading.

Mary Spangler, signing off. Over and out.