august

Friday, March 30, 2012

Those military wives.

Google "Military wives are...." and the first thing that comes up is "annoying."

I hate that, I really do, because it just hasn't been my experience. I am outgoing, probably to the point of being overbearing at times, but I admit that coming to Maryland for our first actual station (at 27, no less)  was terrifying. I was scared to death of these women with all the stereotypes hanging over them and the rank wearing and the gossip and catfights and backstabbing and judging. Scared to the point that I was slightly taken aback when, on our first day coming to homeschool group, I was invited to have lunch with two moms and their kids. There was no gossip, no cattiness. I let myself be a little relieved that day. Every experience from then on I left feeling more than welcome. I connected with at least one fellow wife per "scary" outing. I have met kindred spirits, total opposites, ladies who make me laugh so hard and ladies who make me want to cry with them about the ordeals they've been through. It's been three months, and I can say with complete honesty that I feel as though I've known some of these girls much, much longer. If you by chance read this: thanks for taking me into the fold, it has meant more than you know.

If my love can't be entered as evidence of the character of this group, here's something a little more solid: this week, our base housing was dealt a blow by way of a house fire. It's a disturbing thing to hear sirens on base, because this is a small town folded in half- if you don't know the person for the whom the siren wails, it's certain that you know someone who knows them.



Five families displaced, over a dozen people affected, and before all the details were even out, people were helping. Donating, asking, purchasing, rallying to help in any way they could. I have never seen anything like it, and these wonderful women shrug it off like it's nothing. Well, it's something. It's beautiful to see, and I will always be grateful to know such a community exists. There is of course a tie that binds here, the military "family," but you have to make the choice to be bound. You have to be open to it. Thanks for being so open, ladies, thanks for teaching me. Google is so wrong about you.