Military Spouses, Parents and Families

LPIDelta · #1 08-17-2007, 11:07 AM

A few weeks ago, someone suggested that I start a thread for military spouses and family members (Thank you SoCaGirl!) so that we can connect to one another and share our common experiences of GLO membership and being related to the military. I know of at least one other military spouse who frequents GreekChat but I am sure there are more. I don't know if anyone is interested, but I am going to give it a go. Maybe this can be a place where we can share our stories or at least come to know who else may be in the same boat , no pun intended. Maybe we can even answer each other's questions.

My story. Today is my sixth wedding anniversary to my Navy Chief (E-7)husband. He has been in the service for 14 years. He left several weeks ago for a deployment and should return in December. I have already sent four care packages, and about 10 cards to him.

So what is your military connection?

alum · #2 08-18-2007, 08:01 AM

Married to a West Point grad. 2% Club Member. Stationed at the Pentagon forever-and-a-half.

scbelle · #3 08-18-2007, 02:13 PM

Married to the Army, er, my captain, o captain

for 8 years, stationed in Germany right now. Just got done with a 14 month deployment. Hope it's a long time before deployment #3... to those who have spouses away right now, stay strong!

scbelle · #4 08-18-2007, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LPIDelta

A few weeks ago, someone suggested that I start a thread for military spouses and family members (Thank you SoCaGirl!) so that we can connect to one another and share our common experiences of GLO membership and being related to the military. I know of at least one other military spouse who frequents GreekChat but I am sure there are more. I don't know if anyone is interested, but I am going to give it a go. Maybe this can be a place where we can share our stories or at least come to know who else may be in the same boat , no pun intended. Maybe we can even answer each other's questions.

My story. Today is my sixth wedding anniversary to my Navy Chief (E-7)husband. He has been in the service for 14 years. He left several weeks ago for a deployment and should return in December. I have already sent four care packages, and about 10 cards to him.

So what is your military connection?

And Happy Anniversary, LPIDelta!

navane · #5 08-18-2007, 09:30 PM

I live with a couple of Marines and I'm sort of considered honorary family. I jokingly call myself "the house wife" as I look after everything while they're gone. There was a third Marine but he PCS'd in February. The other two have already been out and back again from Iraq and one of them is going to have to do another round in Feb. 08.

I'm also "mother hen" to some 200 midshipmen, cadets, and officer candidates. While I'm proud of them when they ship out, I always think of them and their safety.

.....Kelly

adpi*violet · #6 08-18-2007, 11:04 PM

Hubby is separating from the Air Force after 7 years. He may possibly be doing the Reserves, but only Air Force or Air National Guard. We shall see.

LPIDelta · #7 08-19-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scbelle

And Happy Anniversary, LPIDelta!

Thanks--I spent the day at work and the night on a plane to go to a sorority meeting!! WOO HOO! But, I am sure my husband and I will do something fun when he gets home.

navane--I did not know this about you, thanks for sharing.

Thanks everyone for the responses so far.

KillarneyRose · #8 08-19-2007, 11:50 PM

Married to a USNA graduate; Class of '87. He is a Commander in the reserves and is currently in some country I'm not *supposed* to know the location until October.

My best friend in college and forever is an Army MP and she's doing her thang over in Iraq until next February. I keep her well stocked with goodies and magazines

Off the top of my head I can think of 16 of my husband and my friends who are deployed at the moment. I try to be a great letter writer and keep them all in my prayers.

Phigirl04 · #9 08-20-2007, 10:46 PM

Wow, all these military spouses. I can't imagine how it feels to have your spouse deployed. I know my heart breaks whenever I find out a friend or relative is going. I'm an Air Force brat. My mom has been in forever and my nearly brand new step-father is also in the Air Force, though he is looking to retire soon and find a nice calm civilian job. It's really tough for me to watch the news because it feels like everytime they mention Iraq it is bad news and too many times it has been about someone I know. I feel lucky that my mom is an officer and has only been deployed to the Middle East twice since the conflict started. And luckily she was stationed in Qatar both times. Everytime I fly home to visit I see men and women in BDUs at the airport and I almost always stop and say a little prayer (I can tell by now which are leaving and which are coming home, such a different expression on their faces). I've also gotten great a letter writing and sending tiny care packages with pictures and such over to everyone.

scbelle · #10 08-21-2007, 09:23 AM

I'd like to know if military life helps or hinders your participation in your GLO, or vice versa. I know if any of y'all are in my boat with all the moves, then it has definitely got to be a juggling act!

Army Wife'79 · #11 09-08-2007, 03:40 PM

Married to a 1979 West Point grad. (he's also an Aggie & a Longhorn). Have lived in 10 states. Usually each assignment is 2 years but some have been 9 months (really hard on the kids). My D went to 3 different High Schools and my son went to 2. It sucked for them b/f the internet was invented but now their Facebooks show friends in all 50 states. D is in an SEC sorority and son will soon be a lieutenant in the Air Force. I'm now an empty nester and bored. I'm always baffled by the girls who want to go to the same college as their H.S. friends and join the same sororities. It's like tring to hold on to your childhood. I say "cut the ties, make new friends, and see the world".

SigKapAngel767 · #12 11-01-2007, 02:44 PM

Navy Wife right here

SthrnZeta · #13 11-01-2007, 03:18 PM

I didn't think to search for a thread that already existed, duh! Ok, just ignore the thread I started over in D&R. My boyfriend is a captain in the Army and will be pcs-ing to Ft. Campbell after Christmas and the unit he's assigned to has already deployed which means he will too once he gets there.... I dated a deployed soldier once before but we broke up while he was over there. The relationship with my current boyfriend is much more serious though, so I'm really hoping we can keep it together while he's gone...

LPIDelta · #14 11-01-2007, 04:38 PM

SthrnZeta:

The good news, communication is much easier than it used to be before email, so that should you keep your relationship going. If you're committed to each other, you can make this work. The bad news--sometimes operations take them away from email or email goes down, so you'll need some patience, but it is better than waiting for the US Postal Service.

Speaking of the Post Office--they have a set of boxes you can order for care packages. It contains three sizes of boxes, two of which are flat rate, mail for $8. You also get address lables, customs forms and a huge roll of tape so there is no need to buy anything. It's free, and I got mine by calling the postal service. It was delivered right to my front door. And, of course, he'll be able to send you mail for free, so send along some paper, pens and envelopes for him.

Hopefully his unit FRG (Family Readiness Group) will be open to keeping you in the loop (most are open to girlfriends, as long as the solider gives the contact info). The FRG will help you know what's going on and frequently shares details of when the unit is coming home, celebrations etc. If nothing else, there is a board over on military.com for families and friends, and the people there seem really supportive. You might give that a look.

I feel fortunate--my husband calls me pretty often, at least once a week, if not more. We get to talk for at least 15-20 minutes, which is enough to catch up on things. Its weird--the frequency he calls almost makes me feel like he's not really where he is...and its made this whole thing easier. Hopefully your boyfriend will have access to phone as well.

There are some women on GC with LOTS of mil spouse experience, so don't be afraid to reach out and ask. We'll be thinking about you and him.

SthrnZeta · #15 11-01-2007, 04:46 PM

LPI, thanks for that post. I have a little experience with this as I said before (back in 2004) so I know all about the importance of letters and care packages. I'll definitely check out the freebie package from the USPS - neat idea! He's an officer and he's comm. so it shouldn't be too hard to hear from him I wouldn't think. I just have to make sure he puts me on the FRG list so I'll be in the know. The other guy didn't and I was lucky enough to find some people on an online forum who were willing to give me some info since their hubbies were in the same unit. I actually have already started checking out the military.com forums - I wish I could remember the forum I used to be on back in '04! Oh, well, this forum may be just as good or better than that other one I used. I figured there were probably a lot of women in my situation on GC so I'm glad I found this thread. Thanks so much for the support. I'm sure I'll be posting more on the topic as the day approaches (like I said, sometime in January I think...) but he'll be leaving the area after Christmas and we'll most likely spend New Years at Ft. Campbell (although I hear it's near Nashville so that could be fun!).