Engage. Educate. Encourage. EMPOWER.
Many moves ago, my husband, our infant daughter, and I moved back to the United States after an overseas posting. It was not my choice, and I was not happy. I went into it with my arms crossed and my eyes closed.
At night I dreamed about my old house, my old neighborhood, and the good friends I left behind. I emailed my “old” friends every week. When I met someone in my new community, I couldn’t help but tell them all about the great life I had before.
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My wife Jules, myself, and our three children Hunter (12), Eva (10), and Acadia (8) were scheduled to be stationed in Germany for three years, and the way my wife’s Army career was looking, it was possible we could squeeze in a fourth year. Then the military does what it always does, and our world was turned upside down. Jules was selected for a position at Fort Lee in Virginia and our three or four years living and traveling in Europe was cut short to two.
How do I help the children cope with learning that, at 18 months and in six more months, they will once again have to pick up their lives and move? How do I cope with picking up my life and moving at the two-year mark?
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Ah, February: the month of Valentines and all things hearts and love. As I was thinking of this charming holiday, I began to ponder all the things I love about each duty station in which we’ve lived or some of the extra places we’ve travelled in between. There is so much to admire about each: the attractions, museums, beaches, restaurants, and oh, those coffee houses and treat shops—what I really adore the most!
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Yes, that title is a favorite Less Than Jake lyric of mine. But this month, it is most definitely true. February holds my favorite day of the whole year—the day my husband and I met. And this year, we’ll have known each other for 10 whole years. More than a quarter of our lives, by just a smidge. Gosh, I love that so very much. Congratulations to us!
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The best (and by best, I mean most hilarious) lunch I’ve ever had from the commissary was macaroni and cheese. I’ve gotta hand it to these folks, really, because they got me pretty good. Now, if you know me, or have known me for more than five minutes, you know macaroni and cheese is my favorite food. I eat a lot of it and often…a habit I’ve had for years.
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For many years, my husband and I discussed attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service. He and I attended a few growing up or when we were married and didn’t yet have children. Once children came into the picture, the idea of attending a candlelight service sent me into a panic. These services don’t correlate well with the kids’ dinner and bedtime routines. The candlelight services hours force us to drag hungry or cranky kids into a church. Furthermore, to ask a very young child to sit quietly in a pew for an entire service, and prevent them from eating an unlit candle, tearing the paper shield, or touching the flame, is nearly impossible.
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Living at a small military base overseas, I feel like it is only natural for everyone to know everyone.
The housing communities are small and nestled into local German towns and villages. It is a wonderful experience but can also feel isolating. I have to say, in our nearly five years of living overseas, this has been one of the most welcoming and close-knit communities we have ever been a part of. You run your errands on post or on the local economy, and you are bound to find someone you know and are bound to strike up a conversation.
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How are we already into October? Where have the last seven months gone?
This is our final year in Germany, and we were going to go out with a BANG! Big plans for traveling and exploring things we couldn’t easily do before because the triplets were less independent. However, here we are, seven months after the pandemic first started to cripple normal life as we knew it.
And to be honest, I don’t think I have recovered.
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I had this vision of how Owen’s birth would go… Most woman who have gone through labor will tell you that birth plans are like dreams: It’s good to have them, but they don’t always work out.
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