Making it in the MilLife

My family loves Survivor. It’s one of the few shows that me, my husband and our two sons, who are six and 11, can all watch together. This season was called Heroes vs. Villains. It pitted the most notorious and loved cast members against each other. One villain was a military spouse named Sandra who had already won the game in 2003. She was back at it for season 20 with a husband in Afghanistan and two kids at home. She wore his cap proudly as she schemed and laid low trying to oust the biggest Survivor villain in history, Russell. She didn’t succeed in getting him out, but she did even better by beating him at his own game and winning the entire show. She is the first contestant ever to win twice.

Okay, so it’s a game show and reality television to boot. But I think it’s interesting that a military spouse named Sandra holds this innocuous piece of history, because I just wrote about another incredible milspouse named Sandra last week.

I think that military spouses ARE survivors. They find a way to make it work against all challenges. Survivor is a game, but watching this show for the past five years, I think it does reflect life a little. People play their true characters; when money is on the line will you lie? Be loyal? Make friends? Make enemies? Sandra did all of the above and she won. What I admire is that despite her wining a $1 million in 2003, when she joined the cast of Survivor Heroes vs. Villains she was working as a bank teller and her husband was still serving in the Army. Why was I surprised? Because I think many of us would quit our jobs if we won a $1 million!

“Maybe he’s a patriot,” my husband said when I made the comment.  Indeed!

If you won a million would your family leave the service?

Here’s a little bit of trivia; which of these Sandras was a military spouse?

• Sandra Bullock
• Sandra Dee
• Sandra Day O’Connor

While you think about the answer, let me tell you why I ask. Because it shouldn’t surprise us if any of these women were married to the military. Military spouses are extraordinary. We find ways to thrive in a unique lifestyle with many challenges. And we do it with the support of everyone from battle buddies to new friends. They get it. We connect.

That’s why this year’s spouse symposium is themed “Spouse Solutions Summit; Make the Connection.” Through our relationships with those in and outside the military world, we make it work. We find creative solutions, get a tip on a great restaurant, preschool or job opportunity. Or, in my case, someone to call when my husband was deployed, my kitchen was invaded by ants, a pipe burst and it was time to get my son off to school – all in one morning. She came to my rescue on her only day off from a demanding job in intelligence, a deployed husband of her own and with her baby in tow. That’s a milspouse.

I hope you will join us on May 13 in Virginia Beach for our 4th annual Military Spouse Symposium where we’ll be talking about Social Media in the Military, hosting the ladies from SpousBUZZ and getting an important benefits update. We’ll also celebrate the 2010 Heroes at Home Military Spouse of the Year with guest speaker Gen. James Mattis, USMC, Commander U.S. Joint Forces Command.

We have a free bus leaving Alexandria to Virginia Beach on the day of the event. Contact moaaspouse@moaa.org for more details. Register for the symposium here. But, if you can’t make it in person watch live at www.moaa.org/livestream

Got something to say? Put it here in our (short) symposium survey.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22AGBQKS3DS

Meanwhile, look for nominations to join our Spouse Advisory Council, upcoming events, guest bloggers and breaking legislative news here at moaa.org

The answer to the question? Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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Twitter: @rizermonique @MilitaryOfficer