'She's a Military Wife, she's packing up her life..."

Last weekend I ran into a recently posted military wife who I have not seen for many years . While waiting for a meeting to begin, we quickly renewed our acquaintance and spoke of her recent move.  As she left to take her seat she tickled my curiosity by saying, "I have you to thank for this move and I will tell you about it after." 

My mind scrambled through interactions we may or may not have had in the past!  What could I have possibly said or done to provide motivation for a move with so many years and miles between seeing one another.  I was supremely perplexed and struggled to maintain my concentration on the speakers.  When an hour and a half transpired I was no closer to working out a connection.

Sliding into the seat beside me at the meeting's close, she began to relate her anxiety over the recent posting decision.  Should she remain unaccompanied in their current location or move the family from a place they have lived for more than a decade?  Her husband's correct assertion that this decision had to be hers did not ease her worry and months of agonising vacillation followed. 

As time drew closer to the decision deadline, she set a specific time to focus her efforts on working out the best course. She decided that the school holidays would give her two weeks to work through the problem and come to a conclusion.

Having been faced with the same decision myself, and experiencing the challenges that come from separation when you remain unaccompanied, I felt for this friend. It is different when facing separation due to deployment as there is little choice involved. (Unfortunately, this understanding brought me no closer to solving the mystery!)

Back to my friend - just prior to the school holidays someone shared 'Military Wife' with her on social media. As she spent time considering the important questions surrounding this move the phrase, "She's a military wife, she's packing up her life and moving it across the globe..." just kept returning to her mind.  Finally she decided that when she married she signed up for a military life - packing up and moving was a big part of that commitment. For her, the choice to keep the family together at this time became clear as the right path.

I had not expected this explanation but am so grateful to know it.

A new posting has come our way. As most military wives know, you now 'pack up' your life and move whatever is portable about it to a new location.  I have recently appreciated words like: flexible, portable, capable, confident, organised, interested, resilient, friendship, faith in our family - the bit about, "she can laugh when she's wrong..." might come in handy over the coming months as well! 

If you would like to have your own copy of the 'Military Wife' recording please download it free by clicking here, and watch the video of the recording here.

Please share this with anyone contemplating the adventure that a new move might present by clicking the link below.

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