MOAA Spouses Take the Beach
Mar 11 2009
If you’re anywhere along the Eastern seabord, I hope you already have this year’s Spouse Symposium on your calendar. It’s coming around a little earlier this year and will be taking place on Thursday, May 14th at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The presentations and panels have always been great, but, I’m particularly excited about two of our sessions….
Back by popular demand, MAJ Art Finch (PhD) will be sharing his insights with us on the traits that make our service member spouses so unique and why we may not always understand them. I Love You, but You’re Driving Me Crazy was the opening for our panel on Building Strong Military Marriages last year. When Art took the stage, everyone was riveted. The other panelists were riveted – they were peeved with me for making them follow Art. No one wanted him to get off the stage. I think they would have gladly listened to him for the rest of the day. Everytime I peeked out at the audience, everyone’s heads were nodding, people were either smiling or laughing hysterically. This year, we’re going to give everyone what they want and give Art his own time slot. This presentation alone is why you shouldn’t miss this year’s event.
But, if you need another reason, how about our afternoon panel entitled: Culture Clash – Military Spouses and the Media. Sarah Smiley, the author of Going Overboard, the Misadventures of a Military Wife; Tanya Biank, author of Army Wives and consultant to the Lifetime series of the same name; and Laura Dempsey, co-founder of Blue Star Families will be joining us along with other panelists to discuss how military spouses are being portrayed in the media, what’s the perception and who’s shaping it.
We will once again be honoring the Heroes at Home Military Spouse of the Year during our luncheon. This is always a moving tribute to the contributions of military spouses to the mission. This year’s speaker is slated to be Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition to what we’ve outlined here, you should stay tuned because we may have some additional surprises in store for you….
To register for the symposium, call 1 (888) 834-6622 M-F between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.. For more information or to register online, go to www.moaa.org/spousesymposium or e-mail me at moaaspouse@moaa.org.
