Category Archives: Military Life

The Lessons We Can’t Unlearn

Posted on by A Girl

When my husband leaves my eyesight, my breath catches.  It catches from a year of sitting and waiting and wondering.  It catches because once we were speaking and a commotion broke out in the background and he yelled, “I have to go” before the line went dead.  It catches because I sat and waiting for three days before hearing that he was ok. There are things that you can’t undo in your life.  There are lessons you can’t unlearn and habits you can’t break no matter how hard you try.  My habit, my lesson, is that he is never guaranteed to be safe, no matter where he is.  And I can never be sure he is alive, unless I am physically talking to him or able to see him. And so I sit at home, my breath stuck in my chest, until he returns again. He admits that he doesn’t Continue reading The Lessons We Can’t Unlearn→

The Thirty Seconds That Defined My Life: My Thoughts on Memorial Day

Posted on by A Girl

Memorial Day is one of those days I struggle to find what to write. I struggle to see the sales and the people remarking about the three day weekend. I struggle to find the words to say what it means to me. Last year, I was approached to write a piece about what Memorial Day means to me, a spouse.   I agreed. But I struggled to put into words what it means. I struggled to say what was in my heart because it is painful to remember and I worried what others might feel when reading my true thoughts. I wrote the most gut-wrenching piece I have ever written. I wrote about a time that I can’t even think of without tears… This story is something I have shared in private and, as of last year, very publicly. But even more so, it is a story that is something I Continue reading The Thirty Seconds That Defined My Life: My Thoughts on Memorial Day→

Online Communities and Military Spouses: How a New Generation is Bridging the Gap

Posted on by A Girl

Last year I was contacted by a lovely woman named Elizabeth who was writing a dissertation for grad school about the military spouse blogging community.  I happily agreed to take part and, once we figured out how to work around the time difference from here to London, we had a rather in depth phone conversation about blogging as a military spouse.  She kindly agreed to send me a copy of her paper once it was finished and I am not kidding when I tell  you that I read the ENTIRE thing and was beyond impressed with her findings and opinions based on what she discovered after talking to a number of us. In short, blogging, Facebook and the entire online/internet phenomenon has changed how military spouses related to each other, connect, form friendships, and even how we view ourselves. If you’d like to read her dissertation, you can do so Continue reading Online Communities and Military Spouses: How a New Generation is Bridging the Gap→