Crazy Army Wives

What is it about us? Maybe it is just not enough alone time with our hubbies (if ya know what I mean) but Army wives tend to get a little crazy when we get out of the house to have fun. We are ALL over-emotional at times. We move every 2-3 years. We raise our "brats"as best as we can when our husbands are gone half of the kids lives. We are so different yet we are all the same, we come from all over but we have that one common bond, our solider husbands. And that is what makes us special, not because we are better than anyone because of what our husbands do, but because when they are gone and we are here to fend for ourselves we always pull together and help each other out where we need to.

What amazes me about being an army wife is that I can go to the mall, or the grocery store, or even Pizza Hut, and instantly make a new friend, it is like we have a radar or something you are just sitting there minding your own business and someone makes a comment about how cute your kids are or something and next thing you know you know everything about that person and come to find out they are Army wives too.

I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that we know we don't have time to mess around when it comes to making friends so we find them wherever, and whenever we can. Knowing that you only have 3 years at the most to live in one place means that if you want to build a good circle of friends you better hurry up and do it before you have to move again.

Which brings me to my next point, once you have made that friend they are your friend for life. Because you never know when you might see them again at another post, or need a place to stay on the way to your next duty station. Every time we move my Christmas card list grows, after almost 15 years as an Army wife I now have friends all over the world (literally) and I love it!

Now that our years are starting to wind down and come to a close (only 5 years left) as an Army family I feel torn. Yes, it would be nice to stay put in one place for a while. Yes, it would be nice to live close to family for a change. But, I will miss my fellow Army wives desperately, even with all our flaws. We are a great bunch of ladies, who lovingly care for our heroes, and wait patiently for them to come home when they are gone. We lift each other up when one is having a hard time, and help her get back on her feet.

We raise our "brats" and try to help them understand why Daddy is gone for so long. We try to make up for it by doing special things and buying them cool stuff like it will make up for it or something, but the truth is NOTHING can replace Daddy in a child's life. Maybe that is part of the reason they are known as "Army Brats" they accumulate all these cool toys from all over but in the end it is just STUFF, nothing more, the only important thing is Daddy coming home safe. Everything else is just a distraction so that we can make it through yet another year with out Daddy.