Carrie, the clever milspouse that she is, gave Crystal a book to deliver to me (the book was about Queen Elizabeth I, I’m a sucker for the Tudors).
I think it was her way to ensure we connected in Ohio.
Have I mentioned that I love military spouses?
Crystal stopped by a few days after I moved in with the book. It was the first time we’ve seen each other, but I felt like I’ve known her forever.
Later that week, she texted me and said she had a bottle of wine to give me. By the way, wine is the universal gift of military spouses. We decided to meet in the park in our neighborhood with our kids, the same park I was recently rejected in.
Crystal arrives in fashion on a bike with a backpack. We sit on the park bench and she proceeds by pulling out a beautifully adorned bottle of my favorite red wine and two plastic cups. She opens the bottle like a master and we sit together watching the children play, chatting about schools and our military life while the sun begins to set.
It was perfect.
We tap our plastic glasses together and cheers to Carrie, our mutual friend, who put us together.
After my child has her third meltdown, I barely noticed the first two, we realized it was time to leave.
I lean over and ask the burning question, “Would you mind if I listed you as my emergency contact for my kids school?”
“Of course!” she responds as if it had already been foregone conclusion.
Happy sigh.
And now I have “that” friend. My friendship-dating continues, but as least I know I have a friend I can call, someone who understands this crazy life and is more than willing to take a chance on a new face. More importantly, she carries wine in her backpack.
Finding and making new friends is as nerve wrecking as the dating scene when I was single. It’s daunting, scary and full of rejection. However, life just isn’t the same without friends.
And in this transient life, we are forced to find our “match” every time we move.
So if you’re in the market for a friend, I might suggest first friendship-dating a fellow military spouse.
I’m not saying they’re easy (hehe), but I can tell you they understand the power of friendship and connecting more than anyone else you’ll ever meet.
Together, we have an expansive network of spouses who can ease the sting of friendship-dating.
I’m feeling grateful and ready to conquer the dating scene again!
