Welcome to the Army, Ma'am!

"Welcome to the Army, Ma'am!" If you have ever heard these words, you were probably really excited the first time. You may have heard these shortly after you were married and were so happy to have finally married your man in uniform that you did not stop to contemplate these words. Let me tell you what that person REALLY meant when they welcomed you to the Army.

1. Welcome to living with an ID for the rest of your Army life. Without your ID card you can't go shopping, go to the library, or leave/enter post among other things.

2. Welcome to lonely days and lonely nights. When duty calls your husband to go it also calls you to stay and hold the homefront.

3. Welcome to a life of tradition. While many of these do not necessarily hold the same place they once did, tradition still plays a vital role in normal Army life.

4. Welcome to unpredicability. You will no longer know when exactly your husband will be home for dinner, or how long you will live in your house or where you will go next.

5. Welcome to dirty laundry the likes of which you probably have never seen. There is nothing to describe clothes that have been through field training exercises. Just wash them, I promise they will be okay.

6. Welcome to the commissary system. Grocery shopping will never be the same.

7. Welcome to the realization that you don't know the number of the days of a person's life. The sound of "Taps" on the wind at night is a constant reminder that someday you may be hearing it in a much more painful setting.

8. Welcome to a sisterhood. The women around you are facing those same lonely nights, doing the same FTX laundry and probably miss home just as much as you do. They will become like sisters, just give it time.

9. Welcome to a community. Living in an Army community can be amazing. Often people will go above and beyond in just those little things that will make you smile. Perhaps it will be a car graciously waiting for you to cross the road, an elderly gentleman who helps you in the commissary or just a kind hello from a stranger.

10.  Welcome to a chance to succeed. The Army has its frustrations to be sure but I have found so many resources and people who are there to help you succeed. I have been so blessed with so many military wives who have been open, honest and helpful as I transition to this new life. They go out of their way to try and help us newbies succeed.

11. Welcome to being married to a VERY handsome man. There is nothing like a man in uniform. It never gets old. Not only do they just make your man so handsome that your toes curl, but it is the symbol of the warriors of old living on in the men of today.

12. Welcome to cherishing every moment and every day. When you know that your time with your husband will be cut short when duty calls, you cherish every single moment. And when you cherish every moment, you find great delight in the smallest of things.

Welcome to the Army, Ma'am!