Who I am.......

I attended a spouses training ....called CARE team training. (CAsualty Response Team) This is training for volunteers that make themselves available to a family to ensure that everyday things are tended to in order for a family to deal with the unfortunate event of losing their Soldier, their Soldier being severly injured, or any other severe crisis that could plague a military family. Most military families are not within immediate reach of family support, CARE Team would be the bridge until the families own support system can be put into place.

I couldn't help but look around the room at the women around me......there is no mold for a military wife. There is no one personality that makes an Army wife. However, there is a common thread among all of us. Army wives are truly a different breed. This does not make us better than any other wife........it just makes us different.

Military wives range from the highly educated to the high school drop out. From organized to organized chaos. We are mothers, daughters, sisters and friends. Almost overnight we learn acronyms that are the basis to our livelihoods: LES, ACS, PCS, TDY, PX just to name a few. We learn how to pack up a house one day and make a house into a home the next day. We learn what it is like to say hello to strangers and good bye to friends. We learn that birthdays, Christmas, and Anniversaries are celebrated months in advance or months late. We learn to answer the phone at 3 am. We learn the sound of his voice and the feel of his touch by heart, since tomorrow he will be in a foreign land. We learn to be strong for the sake of our children. We learn that somedays are longer than others. We learn to smile through the sadness of being alone. We learn that sometimes strangers make the greatest friends. We learn to lean on each other instead of carrying the weight alone.

To my fellow Army wives and Military wives....we are a breed all alone. We stand beside the Greatest men in the world. I thank each and every one of you. For the things you do for the one you love and the strength you pass onto others. There are no words to express how I feel about the sisterhood that I am part of. I know not where we get the strength to love the men we do, but we love them none the less. THANK YOU!!!!