One thing about the military is my friendship will always[REMAIN]the same!

Pretty much all of Army life is uncertainty.  You know things will happen, but you don't know when.  X, Y, and Z scenario could take place, but you don't know which and it's not uncommon for D scenario to come swooping in out of nowhere and take over at the last second. But one thing is certain.  There is ONE absolute.  You are ALWAYS missing someone.  It might be your husband during a deployment.  It might be your family or friend.  Always your heart is stretched out wishing it could be miles and miles away to be with someone that you love–usually several people that you love.

 It takes me a LONG time to feel comfortable with new people I meet, to let them in and become part of my network of people to whom I depend on and want to be with.  But a few amazing people I've let in have been there for me from the start.

We've talked over the difficulties of marriage with Army life, struggles with our kids, how much we loathe deployments.....tons of things. I think that we're just starting to get to know the ins and outs of one anothers lives on a deeper level.  And when we are stationed thousands miles apart it's just really, really, really hard. It doesn't seem fair. I want my friends to be right next door.

We'll still be friends[[forever]].  Our friendship will always continue to grow.  But the quality of our friendship will change.  It has to.  That is the sad truth of making military friends.

Regardless, I am so thankful to have these friends in my life.  I really need them, and I think they really need me. In the absence of your own family you become one anothers family.  I can't be anything but thankful that my friends and their family have been in my life.

The goodbyes and the missing someone never stops with the military.  And sometimes that's just plain hard.

So as I do with all the new friends I make along the way we'll keep track of one another with phone calls and emails that will flow with frequency.  Our kids will see pictures of one another and excitedly smile at the prospect of seeing their friend's face again, even though the next play date won't be for years down the road and may never occur again.  We'll still be connected.  It will be different, but we'll still be friends.

And I'll make room in my heart for new friends.  More connections will be sparked.  More family will be made.  There will be more goodbyes down the road too.  But the sharp pain of those goodbyes will be more than balanced out with the joy we'll find in the new friends we encounter.

The missing of people is our constant companion—our one absolute.  It's what makes us know that our lives are so richly blessed with relationship.  It's what makes this lifestyle hard, and what makes this lifestyle rich.

Of course, sometimes I really just " hate the Army."

[[A HUGE shout out to all my girlfriends, both old and new who have became part of my army family, you have blessed and enriched my life beyond words]]