19. I wish I knew I didn’t always have to have a stiff upper lip.
20. Actually, I didn’t know anything coming into this life and I am kind of glad that was the case! It allowed me to experience baptism by fire and I’m not sure I would have as much faith in myself as I do now if I hadn’t experienced it that way.
21. I wish I had known to ALWAYS purchase refundable/transferable/changeable tickets, lodging, etc.
22. I wish I had known how hard it can be to find a career again. I wouldn’t have worried so much and would have enjoyed the new experiences much more…instead of being on a constant job hunt.
23. I wish I had started planning for retirement years before it is recommended that your family does so.
24. I wish I had taken the time to laugh more, and curse less, when Murphy came to visit. Again.
25. I wish I had known from the beginning that our collective voices can move mountains and create significant change!
26. I wish I had known moving overseas is not only harder, but exponentially so. And more complicated. And more expensive.
27. I wish I had known that reintegration was going to be harder than the deployment itself…I wish I had known that it was OKAY to ask for help…that it is not a sign of weakness.
28. I wish I had known how fast it would go by!
29. I wish I hadn’t felt the need to spout off my resume to every spouse I met when I first married into military life. It was a sign of insecurity, walking away from my career. Little did I know many other spouses had similar feelings.
30. I wish I had given my friends who did not understand military life a little more of a break. I now know that you simply can’t understand if you haven’t lived it.
31. I wish I had learned the signs of PTSD and Combat/Operational Stress sooner…and knew how to help my spouse get the help they deserve.
32. I wish I knew how strong I would become.
33. I wish I knew that my definition of “home” and “family” would change over time.
34. I wish I knew that this life is like a roller coaster. We put on that harness and hang on for the ride. Even if we beg for them to stop it sometimes, we barrel along a single track with no control over many parts. We may hit some walls that are slow to come, then we barrel down. Others are abrupt, we feel our stomachs drop out at the low parts but we also get to throw our hands up in the air! We enjoy the thrill with the other riders then embrace each other when it’s over and say, “That was a wild ride, I would do it again with you guys any time.”
Contributors: Stacy Huisman, MJ Boice, Erin Whitehead, Cassandra Bratcher, Morgan Slade, Kama Shockey, Ashley Frisch, Kate Dolack, Kiera Durfee, Develda Edgington, Michelle Aikman
