Did you know… Mission: Milspouse published its 3000th blog post in 2023 and is still growing!
Emily FitzGerald: The Doctor’s Wife
April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes, but here in Kansas March had its fair share of rainy days too. On one of those rainy, chilly days, I bundled my two little ones into our van and drove to meet my husband for a lunch and library date. As I pushed the...
First Holiday Season Together as a Military Family
This holiday season will be Trevor’s and my first together as a military family. Sure, we have been together for six years ,and it isn’t our first holiday season together, but as we are approach his two years of service mark, we have only had the chance to celebrate a few holidays physically in the same place since he joined active service.
This is the first year where we are 24-plus hours from where we grew up—last year, Trevor was halfway across the world, but I was able to spend the holidays (and some extra time) visiting family. It is going to be tough for both of us to not be able to see our parents and loved ones back home. I keep trying to come up with ideas for spending the holiday with our new friends and “family” we have added since moving away from home.
Back in our pre-military life, weekends this time of the year would be spent celebrating the holidays with our friends and family.
Celebrating the Holidays Far From Home
We have entered that time of year when the hustle and bustle begins. Many of us are planning meals, travel by car or plane, what we’ll pack in our luggage, and exactly what is the best way to tackle a long-distance journey and maintain everyone’s sanity.
But for some of you, you may live too far away to conveniently travel the distance, or your finances aren’t in a place to support hotel stays, gas, or plane tickets, or you may have new additions to your family and prefer to celebrate in the quiet of your own home or in your own way. Maybe it’s a combination of all three.
Not everyone enjoys spending the holidays away from family—and for some of us, we feel a deep absence in our hearts.
10 Tips for Handling the “Holiday Blues”
For many service members, veterans, and their families, the holidays are a great time of laughter, cheer, and togetherness. However, we also know that for some of us, the holidays can be a difficult time.
We may remember family members, friends, and battle buddies who are no longer with us to celebrate the season. Although we feel the loss all year long, these feelings of sadness and loss are heightened during the holidays. This can mean an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms. If you experience these types of emotions during the holidays, please be honest with yourself and take the necessary actions to reduce stress.
To start, try your best to prevent an increase in levels of stress and depression. An article released by the Mayo Clinic recommends several tips to help prevent and reduce stress and depression during the holiday season
News 6 Report: Nov. 18 Mashup
Here are our stop stories for the week of Nov. 18:
• SHURI CASTLE, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE, DESTROYED
• NEW NAME, NEW FOCUS FOR FRGs
• NEW INDEFINITE ENLISTMENTS FOR AIR FORCE
• VETERAN-OWNED TECH COMPANY OFFERS AN OUT-OF-THE-BOX RECRUITMENT SOLUTION
• THANKSGIVING FUN
How You Can Support Military Families: Holiday Edition
Over the last almost 10 years, I’ve been working in senior living communities. Most of my days are spent connecting with those who have lived 80 years or more. Ever since my first holiday season working with seniors, I’ve observed that there are two sides of their holiday coin.
On one hand, you have tremendous joy and gratitude—it’s a season of giving!
On the other, you have grief and longing.
In most of their long lives, they’ve had tremendous joy alongside tremendous hardship. I only began to understand these two sides as I experienced my own hardship while my soldier husband, James, was away on his first deployment.
Find Your Tribe, Love Them Hard
I never considered myself an athlete. I swam competitively growing up, but I was rarely on top of any podium. I couldn’t kick a ball if my life depended on it. And I definitely couldn’t run. Not a single mile.
Ever.
But loneliness can make you do some crazy things. Like being freshly postpartum with your third kid in the middle of a deployment and signing up for some weird mommy boot camp exercise class.
Mission: Milspouse is a
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