Welcome to AWN’s Monthly Recon Rendezvous link-up! We’re so glad you are here. As the name implies, Recon Rendezvous is a place of community and connection. It’s an opportunity to explore and learn about our fellow military supporters’ lives, victories, trials, and experiences.

Each month, we “rendezvous” here to provide information, resources, and encouragement. So, do some “reconnaissance,” link up, swing by your “neighbor,” and leave a comment. 

Some people believe there can be too much of a good thing. I might agree with this statement if talking about rich cheeses, excessive exercise, or Netflix binge watching, but I just can’t agree that there is ever such a “thing” as too much military spouse pride.

You might remember that last month I shared the first installment of our series “Reasons from Milspouse Pride.”

As promised, today we share Part 2, brought to the generous and loving hearts of military spouses and readers like you.

We asked military spouses to complete the following sentence:

I am a proud military spouse when…

Here are their responses:

“I’m a proud military spouse when I can smell the dirt from the field as he walks through the door because that means we both survived another round of training.” — Lacey R.

“I’m a proud military spouse when my husband is thanked for his service. It doesn’t happen much because we live in a very military-saturated place.” — Lisa H.

“I’m a proud military spouse when I see my husband in his dress uniform. He wore his blues at our wedding in 1994, and it always makes me happy and proud to see him in them again. He’s been through a lot in his career, and each of those ribbons and pins shows how much he loves being a service member and serving his country. And he looks so handsome in his blues, too!” — Christie P.

“I was the proudest military wife when I [saw] my husband walking down the airport corridor at the end of his deployment and could see the look on his face, meeting his son for the first time.” — Nikki H.

“I’m a proud military spouse when I see my husband humbly accept thanks for his service. He would never boast, brag, or seek attention for his service, but when thanked, he humbly and quietly says, ‘Thank you for supporting us.'” — Shannon D.

“I’m proud to be a military spouse when I hear the National Anthem. The combination of the words of the song and the American flag waving gives me goosebumps knowing that is something my husband has chosen to defend.” — Mindy K.

“I’m a proud military spouse when I see the community supporting each other in positive ways.” — Amber S.

“I’m proud to be a military spouse when I see other military families step up to help others—friends they just met or strangers alike—because we’re all in this together. Watching other spouses volunteer to keep kids for the sick neighbor they’ve only met twice, or helping fix the busted washing machine or broken pipe for the young spouse down the street because money is tight, or taking a meal and a gift or some homemade goodies to the family who is dealing with deployment or a new baby or sickness when they are thousands of miles from family. That is what makes me proud to be a milspouse—the automatic community and support that comes along with it.” — Shamberly C. 

“I’m proud to be a military spouse when we take new families under our wing and teach them military traditions and when we help one another through absences, deployments, or hardships. Military families are the strongest people, and it’s such a joy to see families reunited and for spouses to realize that they did it, they survived, even though they weren’t sure they would at times!” — Bethany L.

Readers, we always love to hear from you, and clearly, you all have great ideas about what milspouse pride means to you. How would you complete the sentence, “I’m a proud military spouse when…”? Leave a comment below. Part 3 will be coming to you next month!