In my 19 plus years of being an army wife, I’ve met a lot of army wives but only a handful have become friends till the end.  There is an old saying, “to make friends, you must make yourself friendly.”  My friends were wives who were much older (seasoned wives) who understood the army wife lifestyle, the challenges, the sacrafices, and the burdens.  Initally coming in contact with these women, I felt intimidated because they were much older and more experienced than I but they embraced me, mentored me, and took me under their wings and taught me how to thrive and survive as an army wife.

I also built friendships with army wives who were not as seasoned in the army wife lifestyle, but they were mature women with dreams, goals, and purpose.  One in particular was pregnant right along the time I was pregnant with my daughter.  She and I became very close, she gave birth a few months before me and I baby sat for free as she went out job hunting.  Immediately after I gave birth, my husband deployed and I went through postpartum depression and sleep deprivation.  This woman came to my home, packed overnight bags for both me and my newborn, took us to her home and allowed me to get some much needed rest.

No day is ever the same for an army wife, one moment you’re running around like a chicken with your head cut-off and the next moment you’re at a complete stand still, just waiting.  An army wife once told me that I was way too serious and needed to laugh more.  I asked her, how do you suppose I do that?  She replied, envision your life as a television cartoon in fast-forward mode and when I thought about it, I immediately bursted into laughter.  I realized that laughing at yourself is needful and it can be very therapeutic.

Having been an Army soldier, my transition into the army wife lifestyle was a breeze, the values learned as a soldier helped me to understand the importance of camaraderie.  What I found so amazing about these army wives is that the ranks of their husbands had no impact whatsoever on their relationships.  They (we) were a group of women with the army lifestyle in common, together, our goal and mission was to support and empower each other.

In the process of time, some lasting friendships were established and still exist until today even though we’ve not touched base in years, the bond still remains.

Written by: Victoria M. Parham, Blogger for Season 1 of Lifetime Television Series ArmyWives – Retired Army spouse and Producer and Host for Military Spouse Talk Radio, an upbeat 30 minute, information packed talk show segment for an about the lives of military spouses -www.militaryspousetalkradio.com, You can also connect with Victoria via her personal blog atwww.victoriaparham.com.