5) You will likely meet some of your best friends along the ride.

It doesn’t matter that she’s from Georgia and you’re from Chicago. It won’t matter what religion he or she is, what college they went to, what street they grew up on, what politician they voted for in the last election- you will meet your best friend and they might look totally different than any other friend you’ve ever had. Your relationship will be nothing like the other relationships that you’ve formed. Sometimes, you won’t even have to be in the same place, sometimes you will be two thousand miles apart, but it will feel like you’re sitting across the table, sharing stories and wine or coffee or tea or giggles.

This used to bother me before I became a military spouse. I had all the friends I needed and resisted making more. It was too much effort, I told myself. It took me about a year to really open up to the idea of making new friends, but the instant I did, it was a wonderful deluge. We all come from such diverse backgrounds, yet we’re all a team.

When I opened up my heart to the spouses around me, my heart was filled to the brim.

Sometimes I cried – at my hesitancy to open up previously, at the remarkable individuals that surrounded me – out of humility, out of pride.

I don’t know when it will happen, but I can tell you: you WILL meet a best friend. It won’t matter where you live or how many streets or miles that separate you. You will forever be able to pick up the phone, even after months have passed, and you will feel home.