militarymoms

This weekend, the U.S. Naval Academy chapel staff will be working overtime.  It’s graduation week at the Academy, and that means not only the big ceremony on Friday but also weddings, weddings, weddings.  I’m sure it’s the same at the other service academies.  As soon as graduation is over, the wedding ceremonies begin.  We’re welcoming new officers into the ranks, and many of them will be newlyweds.

We were all new spouses once.  Do you remember how it felt?  All those acronyms!  Insignia!  The challenge of ironing uniforms correctly!  (Or, in my case, the challenge of telling your husband that he was responsible for ironing his own darn khakis.)

I remember studying Navy insignia…and then being sent to an Air Force base.  I remember my anger when my husband needed to sign a power of attorney so I could write a check on base, from MY bank account, paying with money I had earned.  I also remember the first time our pay was messed up by the Navy, and how terrifying it was to realize we had to exist on practically nothing until the folks in Cleveland got around to fixing things - of course, when we were overpaid, they took the money back with amazing speed. 

We’ve all had those moments.  We were the new wives, the ones who had no idea how to work the system and make military life work for us.  We needed mentors and friends, and most of us found them.

Now, it’s our turn.  Let’s reach out to all those future military moms and dads - the ones who will start their honeymoons this weekend - and help them navigate through the murky mysteries of military life.

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