I’m part of several military spouse groups, as many of you probably are. While I don’t always engage, I’ve learned a bit from watching the interactions members have with each other.
There’s one question I see over and over again that I almost always chime in on, not because I think I know better than someone else, but because I believe it’s a shame that these services aren’t promoted, few know they exist, and therefore service members and their families suffer.
As soon as we get official orders, the goodbye knot of dread in my stomach starts to form. If I were to make a list of the things I dread about PCSing, saying goodbye wins the gold medal. Yes, I hate the smell of boxes and the sound of screeching tape. And yes, I would give any amount of money to never again have to open my kitchen cabinet doors and have a complete stranger tell me, “Whoa, ma’am, that’s a lot of dishes.”
Of all our duty stations so far, I think Alaska holds the title of “most outdoorsy.” It’s too beautiful to stay indoors, especially in the summer—all two weeks of it.
I tried my hand at fishing, believing it was super simple to catch salmon. Big Sarge had a soldier who literally could drop a line into the water on his way home from work and catch a mess of fish for his supper. Surely it couldn’t be that hard? This guy assured me that fishing was a piece of cake.
Dear Deployment Gnome,
A number of months back, you moved in and brought all your mischief and problems with you. At first we struggled and fought and you wore me out—it was nothing but an uphill battle. Then when life continued, you continued to pop up and see how many different bumps you could throw in the road.
We have begun our three-month stay at Fort Jackson. At first I thought, my hubby and me, on an extended “vacation,” no chores, no cooking. Just me and my honey hanging out in a hotel room together—how romantic!
Um, no.
We all want to leave positive footprints for our children to follow in, something they can carry forward with them in life. One footprint that seems to run through our military families is volunteering. Where there is a parent who volunteers, there tends to be a child who’s either in tow or volunteers themselves.
In a normal year, military installations will submit hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours. There are Volunteer of the Month, Quarter, and Year, and Service Member awards. Behind all of that, there are hours that are never submitted or recognized, but our children see them.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904