I could not have done it alone.
The first time I ran a half marathon was a doozy. Living in Georgia at the time with two young kids, I felt a long way from my time in the Marine Corps when “fit” was my middle name. I was determined and, thankfully, so was my battle buddy.
My family would have PCS’d this summer if we were on our normal schedule. But what is “normal” this year anyway? The coronavirus swept over our world, leaving us with uncertainty and quickly grasping for a new normal. Plans we have all had over the past several months have been unraveled. We have postponed, rescheduled, all out cancelled, and been ever flexible with our activities, events, vacations, and PCS orders. A military life forces us to be flexible and deal with last minute changes somewhat gracefully. But this year?
This year…well, it is a whole new drill for us all.
I distinctly remember the first time my dad chose to use a moment as a teachable moment.
I’m sure there were others, but I vividly remember when I was 6 or 7 years old and had a piece of gum or a lollipop in the car. I took the wrapper, cranked down the window (it was all hand power in the old days) and flippantly tossed the wrapper out onto the street. I’m sure I didn’t know any better (it was the early ’80s after all), but my dad caught me.
Thank you for listening to another fantastic episode of Army Wife Talk Radio. Today AWN’s Owner and Commander, Sharita Knobloch, interviews Kori Yates, the Founder and Director of Planting Roots (www.plantingroots.net), a growing organization that is building a community of Christian military women worldwide. Finding consistent community in our nomadic military life can be challenging. One piece of that is finding our community of faith. Looking for a church, Bible study group, or chapel service that works for us and our families can be a big piece of that puzzle. What are practical steps to finding community? Listen to find out!
“Thanks to the Helpers. Let’s take care of ourselves and each other.”
Fifteen days ago this message was like a blinking sign speaking directly to me.
Tom Hanks posted it as a nod to Mr. Rogers’ original message about looking for helpers in the midst of catastrophes. It aligns with Mr. Rogers’ entire ethos of helping children process big feelings in healthy ways. Even more, it is a call to both look for the good in humanity and be a good neighbor.
After saying goodbye to my husband four months ago, one of the soldiers of rear detachment stopped me in the parking lot and told me that if there was anything I needed help with during the deployment to please call him. This is not uncommon in the military world, and his words were comforting on such a raw, emotional day.
I told him there were two things I didn’t want to have to do during this deployment: buy a car and put my dog down.
Sadly, I had to do both this month and no other words will suffice…
It just sucked.
Sometimes military spouses can get a bad reputation. People use words like dependent, clucking hens, glib, and other derogatory names. What if we started using words like connector, networker, or change seeker?
Every day, I make the conscious decision to be a connector. To me a connector is someone who builds a large network, not for popularity, but for the sake of helping others. A connector is someone who reaches out to others, engages in conversation, and genuinely cares about building new relationships while nurturing old relationships.
To a milspouse, the military community might seem large, but it is actually pretty small. Only about 1% of the population serve in the military. Being a connector allows you to help others when they are in need.
Thanksgiving this year turned out to be a first on a few levels. More than 7,000 miles away from the United States—definitely a first. Being the only female at our gathering—a first, except for the few years when it was only my husband and me having a two-person Thanksgiving. Only one person eating dessert before heading home—um, yes, possibly a first at all Thanksgiving gatherings that ever occurred everywhere.
All firsts aside, it was a memorable Thanksgiving.
We shared our home and meal with five soldiers, plus one stuck at the office on shift.
Our guests were all still living the barracks life, and so I seriously was not expecting anyone to bring anything besides their appetites. So, I was surprised to find out that one was planning to bring a cake!
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.
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