A little background on myself: I never really had any friends (by choice) in school, middle school & high school I mean. When I say I had no friends I mean that I never really wanted to be close to the people in my class because to be honest, they weren't very nice. Sure I had acquaintances, people I would hang out with, for the most part I got along with them because I had to - I was with them 5 days/week! But everything was fake. I saw a lot of back stabbing, jealousy, and cliques and I wanted no part in that. My parents always told me it would get better when I got older, yes - yes it did!
Anyways, I had one really good friend all through my childhood until now and far into the future. The kind of friend that we could hang out with each other for hours on end and not get sick of each other, or sometimes barely say a word the whole time. We can go weeks & months without seeing each other now but when we do we pick right back up where we left off. We both lead two completely different lives but the fact that that hasn't changed anything between us is awesome. Effortless, and that is what I love about it and I know she does too.
Now fast forward 2 years after graduation when I got married and moved to Virginia! My husband is a Marine and at the time was stationed in Quantico. Once I moved I quickly got a job and started meeting new people. I had heard so many times that the military is full of "see you laters", I don't call them goodbyes, and boy were they right! My husband of course already had a lot of his own friends there, and thankfully a handful of them were married as well! He introduced me to a lot of couples, I called them "Meet & Greets" (haha), and all of them worked out. Soon I was having girls night once a week with all of them where we just made food and drank wine - perfect right? We'd talk about where we came from, where we are now, and where we're going to be, lightly, but when the day came for the Marine Corps to tell one of us to pack up and move it was a harsh reality. Slowly our group got smaller and smaller and our conversations turned to those that we miss and who we can't wait to see again. What was awesome though when we were all together was hearing where everyone had come from, sometimes it was just their hometown - others had stories of packing up and leaving home just like I did before getting married and settling down a bit. But it was also stories of growing up. I couldn't get over the fact that I had finally found a group of friends, all women mind you, that I could truly call friends. There was no backstabbing - instead we would pick each other back up, no jealousy - we were all married and in the same boat, and we didn't act like a clique - everyone was welcome and we were more than happy to see another bottle of wine added to the group ;)
But mostly we were all in the same boat, we all live at the mercy of the military telling our husbands what to do, when to do it, but never why. The word "why" isn't even in our vocabulary because the reason is.. because. I had surrounded myself with women that no matter where I came from or where I was going they were going to be there for me, as was I for them, no matter what. Because that's just what you do. You need help packing at 11:30pm or 8 am? Ok, I'll be there. You're husband just got a call that he has to go on trip tomorrow? Ok, come over for dinner so you're not alone. You're running out of wine? I have 4 bottles in my refrigerator. Just kidding.. but seriously I'll be over ;). Anyway, you get the point. Once you marry someone in the military you're not only marrying him/her but you're marrying the military. Another family that no one understands unless you're a part of it.
I have now moved to North Carolina and appreciate that group even more. We all keep in touch through our moves, some are in California, some in Virginia still, some even in North Carolina! But I can't wait for the day that we can all be in the same room again with our wine glasses being filled to the rim and eating delicious food! Mind you that may be when we're all old in wrinkly but think of the stories we will be able to share then!
I guess my point in all of this is that I'm thankful for the military for bringing some pretty awesome people into my life. True, genuine, people. Given my background with "friends" I would have never thought that I would cross paths with any one of these women (and their husbands) but I'm more than grateful that I did.
And for any of you women (you know who you are) that I've been talking about - I miss you, I love you, and I can't wait to see your faces again!
Here are just a few of those women with their men/family that I've practiced some photography on, thanks for being my models :)
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