Community

Well, I'm back on the grid. Last week I drove off to my next home to find appropriate living quarters, visit law school for the first time, and have a wonderful time with a friend who lives there. In between seeing houses and waiting for my lease application to get approved, I was fortunate to have a wonderful time being social with my friend, her husband, and a couple of other military friends of theirs (some stationed at the same place, one who was also visiting from out of town).

I found myself reflecting multiple times on how wonderful these military connections are - both in general and the ones resulting from the school that my husband, my friend's husband, and a lot of other people we know attended. Until this past week, I'd spent little in person time with my friend (we've mostly bonded online, but met a few times over the past years), even less with her husband, and had never met their friends before. Yet, from the moment I came into contact with them all, the atmosphere was warm, inviting, and friendly. We chilled out, played games (okay, mostly one very odd but fun card game), and did things in the local area. It was a temporary and very recently assembled little group, but it felt so comfortable. After living by myself the past 7 months, I've noticed that I especially appreciate the chance to be social face-to-face, as opposed to on the computer. It does a person good. (Not that I've been a total loner... I've just spent a good portion of time alone here at the apartment.)

Anyway, I wish I could say this more eloquently, but I find myself feeling so grateful for the sense of community we have in this military lifestyle. This past week I was embraced simply due to the military connection, with very few questions asked, in a place I'd never visited before. I had a place to stay for free, and people to hang out with when I wasn't house-hunting. I thought a few times about how boring it would have been had I not had this community this week. The answer, in case you're wondering, is pretty darn boring!

We may never get a chance to let our roots grow very deep in this lifestyle, but the flipside of that is that social circles are never hardened to the point of exclusivity.They are constantly in motion, shifting shape through deployments, changes in station, and other factors. Everyone has been the new person at some point, and we all know another connection can't hurt. Say what you will about the moving lifestyle, but I sure do love having connections in so many locations, and knowing that quite often, I'll have an air mattress open to me wherever I may need to go, and people to hang out with to boot. In that way, I am blessed.