Engage. Educate. Encourage. EMPOWER.
Many things about milspouse life are AWNsome… but we admit, deployments usually aren’t one of them. Your AWN Command Team members have been there, done that (and might even be doing the deployment thing as we speak), so we want to make sure you have all the resources you need to thrive during what can be a challenging season of milspouse life. Click images below or keep reading for more from our blog.
Deployments come faster and faster. Home, away, home again, and away again. I knew I couldn’t be the only one wondering if it’s really harder to be the one leaving or the one who is being left.
I began a mission to find out.
When I asked service members and their spouses which is harder, leaving or being left, the majority of them seem to agree—it’s easier to leave.
Do you have a deployed service member on your Christmas list? There won’t be a “ho-hum” holiday for your service member with these holiday care package ideas. I’ve captured the spirit of the season through items that relate to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of the holidays. Add your own touches for a surefire way to make your service member’s spirit bright!
After about six years of being a milspouse, I just realized something today.
I don’t have to be okay.
This for me was a huge epiphany. My husband deployed in January, and I’ve been striving since then to carry on. You know, pay the bills, keep the house maintained, keep the yard neat, the vehicles maintained, nurture and teach our sons—and smile.
As I go about my day, I find comfort in my home, for my home is a connection to my husband. Yes, it is where my computer is, so I have my literal connection to my husband, but just as important are all the memories and reminders of him—us—that fill its walls and surround me.
Today, my sons and I went to the airport. My oldest was flying out to visit with family for a month. As we parked in the airport parking lot, we all noticed a soldier and his family. My sons were captivated.
“Look a soldier!” my 8 year old shouted.
“He looks like Dad!” my 10 year old added.
“Daddy!” my 2 year old cried.
“I bet he is on leave,” my 16 year old said.
We’re stationed at Fort Stewart. We see soldiers in and around post almost daily. Still, though, it is never “old hat” to my boys.
Today we reached a breaking point.
First, let me say that I don’t normally blog about all this personal stuff because, quite frankly, it puts me in a very vulnerable position. I mean, I’m supposed to help you, right? Then, I think that if you know you aren’t alone and that other spouses go through the same thing, you’ll share, too, and we’ll all be stronger because we know there are others like us out there.
Last week, after hanging up the phone from a 15-minute MWR call with my service member, it dawned on me that he has missed most of Wrena’s life and is about to miss a good chunk of Chloe’s.
I sat there crying.
No, this isn’t my Christmas list!
It’s the little things—the little things that make me miss him most.