This reason might be my favorite thing about this military life, so of course it is going to make the list of what I am thankful for of this military life. My favorite thing about this life is the friendships I have made.
I do consider myself very social but I also have a few friends that know me very well. Being social makes it easy to meet people, and of course in the military, there are several opportunities to meet new people. But I have been privileged to make some of those people I have met and shortly call them my closest and best friends.
I am thankful the military life led me to meet one of my best friends the first week of a deployment. Ended up staying too late hanging out at her house the first time, which we made habits of and had several sleepovers like we were 12 year olds staying up all night talking. We ended up spending almost every day together, and even went “back home” to meet each others family, where I instantly felt like family. During a recent move and driving half-way across the country, I am thankful on short notice we were able to drive a little out-of-the-way and visit for a quick evening. I am thankful that I literally have these friendships all over this globe, and genuinely know that if I am in their area, I will be able to stop by and catch up.
I am thankful for the friends that when one has to move, you still stay in contact. You also know the military can be very small and hope to be stationed together again some day, even trying everything you can do to end up where they are. (Hey, a girl can dream, right?) Or when you find out a friend just got orders near you, you begin planning a friends reunion. Trust me, I have made many visits to temporary lodging to see friends that just got to the area. Unfortunately, when you are stationed near several friends, you know time is ticking for one of you to have orders to leave. But that means you plan out vacations and trips to see each other! —See yesterday’s post where I tell you about a trip to see a friend for Thanksgiving. Or when you are the one getting orders, you can get excited because you have friends at your new duty station already.
I am thankful for sweet friends that sit on standby waiting to see if you made the “space-A” flight across the world. Borrowed her neighbors car to drive an hour and a half with her young children to pick you up from another base and shriek and welcome you HOME so much excitement. She stayed quiet on social media because I hadn’t even told my family I MIGHT be flying in from Japan. I got to finally meet her youngest daughter and share my exciting news that I was expecting as well. She opened her home for us to stay in for weeks (with about the in-flight time notice).
I am thankful for friends that when I knew I was going to give birth to my first child while my husband was deployed, I never once worried about “who” would be there. My whole birth story is an example of why I am thankful of the friendships I have made during this military life. From when I first saw my positive test and could not reach my husband because of training, I shared my excitement with a friend first. To when my husband wasn’t able to make some of the appointments because of training and deployment, I always had a friend to go with me. When I was in a minor car accident (on the way to TARGET with a friend one week into the deployment), my friend did not hesitate to call another military spouse friend to watch her children so she could sit with me at the hospital. Later in the deployment, while at a friend’s house for dinner, I began having contractions. My friend insisted I get in the car and she took me to the hospital. She did say that if my water broke in her floor, she would make me clean it up before going to the hospital (what can I say, my friends are honest.) After being monitored, we learned I was about to have my son! Yay! Ya’ll, my friends all came together to make sure everything was ready by taking rotations of sitting with me all night, picking my mother up from the airport and getting her to the hospital. Another friend held my phone during the entire birth so my husband could see by FaceTime (technology I am also very thankful for). I had a friend in charge of my pain button because I couldn’t reach. Having so many friends there, meant so many pictures were taken, and I have an amazing birth story to tell because of the love and support of my friends.
Now, I know some people are panicked thinking about being social or reading of my extremely extrovert self. You should get yourself a social military spouse friend, and they will change you! Or do all the social things for you. Ha! Kidding (kinda). I do have my introvert friends that run and hide when I ask them to do something social with me, or break out in a sweat. One of my best friends, even though we are alike in so many ways, she is a complete introvert. Her and I have the best time being lazy around our houses binge-watching trashy TV shows, or having hours-long conversations on the phone daily because we live nowhere close to each other.
I have met friends in many unique situations. But knowing they are part of this military life gives us an instant connection. I am incredibly thankful for this military life for bringing these friendships into my life.