Military Lifestyle

It formally began on a cold hard chair in an impersonal room, as so many of these lessons do. I’d had smaller assignments for this particular topic before, but this was where I began to take the advanced course. No,...

Lingering moving boxes remain tucked away in our basement, filled with donations or items to sell. My son’s artwork covers the fridge, proud trophies from his days spent at his new school. Toys scatter the yard, loved on by...

Before my dad passed, he told me his mother had been what he called a “dollar-a-year-girl.” She worked for the United States government in World War II as a senior censorship clerk, intercepting cables and telegrams looking for codes. I...

"Thank you so much,'' I said tearfully, as I handed Maria a tip. By the big emotions flowing through my body, you would have thought that I had known her for years. That wasn’t the case. No, Maria was the housekeeper...

77 days. This was the number of days that we couldn’t drink the water in our home, and the crisis has not ended for many. If you know anyone in Hawaii, it is all you talk about. If you don’t, we...

I love history. I always have. So when I went to visit my dad and stepmother's markers at Barrancas National Cemetery last December and saw coins on top of markers nearby, I had to find out what that meant. Have...

You know that slow smolder? When the last embers just barely eek out a visible glow between the ash? The moment between warmth and chill, roar and still. This is the moment of choice; one more log to burn...

Chances are if you are reading this, you have at least one friend who is a military spouse, or on the flip side of that, maybe you are that friend to someone else. We are a rare breed: a group...

I feel as root bound and hemmed in as a plant that has been in its pot for too long. Restless, edgy, stuck...I am hungry for a change. The one single constant about the Army was that everything was guaranteed...

There are three major logistical actions for military families: a PCS (where we move from one duty station to another) a change of command (leadership changes at place of work) seasonal travel All of these bring some degree of...

Ah, do you hear the birds chirping and the magical sound of the school bus in the neighborhood? At last, after a PCS move, the first day of school arrived! I whimsically twirled around the house, helping kids gather...

Like many people, I enjoy the movie-watching experience. It’s always a pleasant surprise when I watch a movie that far exceeds my expectations. Released earlier this year on Netflix, Stowaway—billed as a science-fiction thriller—was definitely not perfect; several plot...