Shae Regan
Deployed Love, Communications
Travis Air Force Base
The first few months of being a fabulous dependent were a blur. DEERs appointments, TRICARE calls, new spouse orientations, along with joining a million Facebook groups just to find out I wasn’t the only one lost at sea. How did spouses connect 20 years ago without Facebook? Why didn’t anyone give me a list of acronyms? What the heck is a PCM and why do I keep getting a new one every 6 months !?
April 2021 marked my 4th year of being a military spouse which also includes 4 moves, 4 states, 5+ job changes, and little red and yellow TMO tags still secretly hiding on our belongings. Over the past four years I have grown a bigger appreciation for military spouses and the military community as a whole. There is a sense of family within our secret world, our own language, our own understanding, and in the midst of the rollercoaster I know there is someone who has already jumped off this ride successfully with comforting advice on how I will also make it through. I know the encouragement and advice from these amazing spouses has helped carry me through some of the harder times.
As a military spouse I never expected to be thanked. I never expected to be occasionally honored by strangers, and I definitely didn’t expect there to be a whole day dedicated to appreciating military spouses. People tend to argue about whether or not it is fitting to really thank a military spouse, but they often forget that the service member and their spouse are a team. Most spouses really don’t expect it, but almost everyone will appreciate it. We give up a lot when we marry a service member. In return, we gain a pretty cool community.
It is comforting to know that us spouses will always have a built in family no matter where the military takes us. I am thankful for the strong spouses who have helped me along the way, even the ones who I have only virtually met. The trust that the military spouse community holds for one another is the strongest bond I have ever felt. We are here for each other! With that being said, THANK YOU to all the spouses who stay behind the scenes and make sure the home, finances, family members, and loved ones are being taken care of. Most importantly, thank you for taking care of each other. As a military spouse, you are part of a strong, proud military community and deserve to be appreciated.
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'I try to thank all the spouses (and children) for their sacrifices. They never signed up for the duty, but so much is expected of them, nonetheless. Strong Military Families make America’s fighting force strong, which makes our nation strong. ' - Loren Westerfield
'I just appreciate when someone recognizes how hard it can be and doesn't try to put me down or invalidate my experiences. Especially if they don't know what I'm going through. I feel weird being "thanked for my service" but it also feels good sometimes because I feel like someone cares.'- Delanny Cherry
‘I think a lot of times people tend to not notice all that really goes into being a military spouse ... while we knew what we were getting into we still have struggles and if you’ve never been a spouse to a member of the military you don’t fully understand ... it’s just nice to see when someone is actually trying to get it and to appreciate you and tell you that you're doing an amazing job…’ - Courtney Morrow