In military life .. not the blog. You don’t get rid of me easily 😉
After 22 years, the pilot officially retired from the army! You can see the complete review of FINI flight and celebration here.
It’s been almost three weeks and I have a lot of emotions. I still feel like it’s just going to leave now and I can’t really believe it is over. It was such a dynamic way of life, full of the highest tall (there is nothing like a honeymoon when they come back!) And some low low.
It is wild (and I am so grateful to all of you) that so many of you were here almost our whole military life! When we first moved to Valdosta and started the blog, we were recently married and I was brand new to all this lifestyle.
Babies !!
Our military life was full of pure joy, such as growth returns and events of the fate, but also sadness, fear and anxiety.
– The incredible feeling when I first hugged me after every development.
– When he had left for a long time and then felt a little like a stranger.
– Events and late at night drink wine and chat with the ladies.
– Talking to him on the phone while he developed, but listening to the missile attack alerts in the background. (It was the voice of a woman with a British pronunciation saying: “Rocket attack.
– Carefully packaging and sending development packages, so excited to check the mail and adore handwritten letters and cards.
– Learning that his plane had a shower with bullets during a particular flight abroad.
When I first met with the pilot, I asked him how often he had to leave and if he had to ever develop. He told me that he would probably not leave at all, and he probably wouldn’t have to develop. (All friends of my military wife can ridicule here.) He was in North Carolina six months later and was developed for the first time in a year. Ends up developing four times.
Military life is constantly flexible for the unknown and inherently rigid way of life. One of the most difficult lessons for me was that the army was always the first, no matter what was happening.
There are many things I can only keep, but something that will get out of my mind was when I had hand surgery (so one hand was in narthex), a preschool and a newborn baby with serious or reflux, and it was over over One week.
So many times, I felt that the end would never be here, and I am joking that it would drag me on the finish line, an outdated bag. The outdated bag did it!
Sometimes we hear, “you know what you’re going into” when a military woman talks about her struggles. For this reason, we often feel ashamed to talk about the difficult places. You expect to keep a smile on your face, focus on all the benefits of military life and go with him. While I am a huge loyal to be as positive as possible, it is also okay to look around and be like, “this is outrageously difficult.”
I put a smile (mostly lol), supported the love of my life, hosted and watched the parties, went to the important events, kept the fortress during facilities, long hours and tdys and put my heart and The soul to make the most of the sake of children. I was honest when I had a difficult day here and there, but I didn’t want to know the size of how drained I felt. He was commander for three years and did a great job, but it was difficult for our marriage and family.
You can love your husband more horrifying, you can be proud of him, you can love and support our army … and not * love * everything to be a military wife. You can make the absolute better than things, though not necessarily * by enjoying * every aspect of it. If you feel like you are just struggling to go through it and sometimes just playing the role, it’s okay to feel like that. I just wanted to send my love to fellow military wives who held her. If you feel you will never get to the finish line you will. You are amazingly strong – hang there.
Many things can be true right away: you can look back with sadness, love, fatigue, joy and gratitude, at the same time.
A little note for the A-10 AKA the pilot’s girlfriend:
– Thank you for the opportunity to help our country
– Thank you for the fun memories
– Thank you for the opportunity to make so many baby meals – one of my favorite things for all this experience
– Thank you for the amazing health insurance. Some people have mixed experiences but I have nothing but great things to say about Tricare
– Thank you for the military friends who became like a family
– Thank you Thanks Thanks for bringing him safely to our house
He did a great job by taking care of him and always brought him to our home. Over 3,400 hours in the cockpit of this beauty, and while I will not necessarily lose the lifestyle, I will lose the joy the pilot got from flying the A-10, his companionship with the bros to achieve his achievements. I am so proud of everything he has done in the last 19 years I know him (just below 22 in the Air Force in total).
I am definitely looking forward to the pilot to enjoy a long, very necessary vacation, and then return to the world of commercial airlines.
Thank you for being there for us during the twists and turns of this crazy military life. While we turn the page, I look forward to chapter 2. 🙂
Xoxo
Tiger
