Being a military spouse can be tough sometimes and a smart military spouse knows to accept help when she needs it, whether it’s in the form of a helping hand from a friend or just something that makes his or her life a little easier.
We asked our community what things made their life a little easier or what they couldn’t live without and here’s what they said (with some tweaks of our own…)
1. Wine
Because let’s be real, some days we all need a little…or a lot of “grape” therapy to get us through.
2. Smart Phone
Hats off to the former military spouses that went through deployments, long hours and all the other headaches of military life without a smart phone. Smart phones can be a blessing and a curse but for a military spouse they are often viewed as nothing short of miraculous due to the constant access to Skype and email they provide us while our spouse is gone.
3. Internet
Internet is another necessity that truly changed the life of a military spouse. Not only does it make it easier for us to connect with our military spouse while they’re gone, it makes it easier for us to keep in touch with family and to reach out to the military spouse community. It truly is an invaluable asset for a military spouse.
4. Skype/FaceTime
I <3 you, Skype. You make my husband feel like he is that much closer when he is gone and make the long days of a deployment a little more bearable when I know there’s a chance I’ll get to see my soldier’s face and hear his voice. Thank you for Skype and FaceTime for existing and making every military spouse’s life a little better.
5. Patience
Oh. Patience. You devil you. You are hard to come by and even harder to hold on to but so necessary when our spouse is deployed, we’re awaiting orders or we’re playing any of the other million waiting games that come along with the military life. Patience is an important virtue for a military spouse but the good news is that at least on the days you don’t have it, you still have wine.
6. Tool Kit
This is a great, practical thing that every military spouse should own when the inevitable disaster hits when we’re holding the fort down by ourselves. Take it from someone who may or may not have resorted to using empty wine bottles as a hammer in the past, (hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!), every military spouse should own their own tool kit.
7. Sense of Humor
Because when Murphy’s Law strikes, and it will, sometimes all you can do to keep yourself from breaking down is sit down and have a good hard laugh. It’s amazing how much a little laughter can make everything feel so much better even when it’s not.
