Making it in the MilLife

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.

Join the discussion
www.moaa.org/spouse
www.facebook.com/moaaspouse
Twitter: @rizermonique @MilitaryOfficer

For the past few years, it has been my privilege to share with you information and resources affecting military spouses.  Now it’s time to turn that over to someone else.   For the past nearly five years, I’ve had the honor of spearheading MOAA’s military spouse outreach initiatives, but it’s time to move on.

We’ve shared a lot of information here over the past few years and I appreciate your candor in sharing your experiences and challenges.  This has been a great forum for commiserating over job searches, children and deployments.  I hope that you’ve found some support and nuggets of information.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you.  Who else but other military spouses understand Murphy’s Law of Deployments, the difficulties of maintaining a career over multiple PCS’es and all the other challenges that come with our transient lifestyle?!?  I’ll miss hearing from you all, but I’m not going far, you can find me here.  And you’ll still be able to come to MOAASpouse for great information.  As a matter of fact, you should all be paying close attention because the MOAASpouse blog will be undergoing a Facelift and will be coming back better than ever!  As for me and mine, we’re getting ready for a homecoming.  My husband is due to return from his deployment later this week and we are eagerly anticipating the reunion.  As one door closes, we’re finding that others are opening, so it should be quite a ride over the next few months.  Stay tuned!

Again, I thank you for the opportunity to share some information with you and wish you all the best.  If your servicemember is still deployed, we wish them a safe and speedy return.

Warmest regards,

Sue Hoppin