The Soundtrack of our life: “It’s much easier with a friend.”

My preschooler loves music, and she’s hijacked my favorite playlists. Disney’s Mufasa soundtrack has been on repeat in my house for weeks. My daughter is obsessed, and honestly,  I’m just happy to hear something other than Moana 2 and Frozen.

A lyric from “We go together” has stuck out at me for a while now (thanks, kid), and I’m going to share it with you in all its simple glory. Maybe it’ll get stuck in your head, too!

“It’s much easier with a friend.”

That’s it. The whole, powerful message. Literally any hard thing can seem easier, with a friend along for the ride. That sentiment encapsulates the last two years of my life, living on an island, farther away from home than I’ve ever been.

And in our final days here, in the vast expanse of the Pacific, it’s also the mantra seeing me through the gauntlet of difficult farewells.

Not just to the friends we’ve made, but to the vibrance of the sea that surrounds us, and to the more forgiving pace of life that my family so desperately needed.

Days remain before we board the first of several flights to take us back stateside, and I’m feeling so many things, it’s hard to even put a name them all.

Our friends here on the island have become like family. I’ll miss them and never stop hoping to be reunited with some of them again, at a future duty station.

It will feel a bit like coming home, just to see their faces. I’ll miss the sea, and the lessons it taught us. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to describe it to those who’ve never seen it, and to find names for so many different shades of blue beneath the sun.

I’ll miss our neighborhood and the freedom that my oldest has had to play. I’ll miss the feeling of knowing that he’s safe, happy, and playing the way that kids his age are meant to play.

“It’s much easier with a friend.”

And it has been.

Life.

Parenthood.

Navigating a remote duty station. Trying to take all the uncertainties in stride. Trying to move forward without any certainties to rely on.

Holding our households together, with grit, love, and a whole lot of grace. I’ve been lucky enough to experience many meaningful friendships with other spouses through the years. I’ve relied on them time and time again. I’ve asked for their help, even when I was embarrassed to.

I’ve learned from them, and prayed for them, and laughed with them.

Many times, my fellow military spouses have been the ones to carry me through the really tough challenges that came our way. They’ve been the ones who showed up for me, even when I told them that I had it handled.

They didn’t care whether I actually had it handled or not – they wanted to be there with me while I handled it. And if they could make it easier to for me to achieve, then all the better.

That’s the true beauty of genuine friendship.

Sometimes, they see what you need better than you can. Sometimes, they see you more clearly than you will ever see yourself. It’s hard to give that up, in favor of the unknown.

But we do it, again and again.

Whenever it’s asked of us. We pack up, we start over, we exchange names with strangers. We find routines and accept invitations, and then before we know it, we’re laughing at their kitchen island over coffee.

That’s the beauty of friendship in this military life, and one of the great tragedies.

We don’t get to keep very many people. Or at least, not in the way we most want to. And if you’re like me, you move to the next duty station, mourning the friends you left, as you simultaneously seek out new friends to ease the ache of the holes the old ones left behind.

That’s how important friendship is in our lifestyle. That’s how powerful. It can transform an unknown city name on a map to a place of welcome and comfort.

“It’s much easier with a friend.” Because with a friend, anywhere can become a home. Even, as it turns out, an island.

*For more from Kaci, check out her MM Author Page.