Circle of Friends

Circle of Friends 06/12/11

So yesterday we threw a bit of a belated "welcome home" party for my husband. We both invited a bunch of people, knowing full well that many of them would be strangers to each other. By yesterday morning I had no idea how many people would show up so, as usual, I was over prepared but glad about it. We had close to twenty people show up in the end. The sun was out, the weather was warm and the food and conversation was excellent.

Part way through the night I started to clear plates (mostly because Titan was trying to eat some left over steaks) and was surprised (and thrilled!) when one of the other wives I had only recently met started to help. I don't know why it shocked me so much but it's just such a nice gesture. All of our friends are pretty good about doing that but when it's someone's first time visiting I don't ask or expect it. But I definitely appreciate it! Anyway, while we were washing up the dinner dishes, I was watching the scene outside. All of our friends were sitting in this big circle of lawn chairs, all talking, smiling and laughing. And everyone seemed to be included. There were a few different conversations going on and people would jump in to others any time they heard something interesting. It was pretty awesome to see everyone so happy and having such a great time.

That's one of the great things about military life, that I actually only discovered with this posting. When I first met my husband we were living up north.  And he was working at a pretty small squadron. I met all of the guys he worked with and all of the spouses there but never really felt like I got past being an acquaintance with any of them. It was such a strange dynamic at that squadron and actually reminded me of middle school, when you're surrounded by a whole bunch of different cliques. I noticed that people hung out with people of the same rank or trade and rarely crossed over to mingle with others. It was the same when it came to the spouses. Pilot wives hung out with other pilot wives, those with children flocked to others with children and others hung out with people whose husbands had the same rank. Even the fiancées hung out together.  I, at the time, was only the girlfriend and had no children, so I found it really difficult to find a group I belonged in. Of course there were a few exceptions and there were a couple of wives and fiancées I spent time with but none of us ever really went out of our way to approach each other.

Where we live now is so much different than that. I moved here after my husband did and got to meet people right away. I am the youngest of the spouses and when I first met everyone I was only the girlfriend, which obviously worried me because of what the last location was like. But almost immediately I felt included and actually wanted to spend time with everyone. It's such an amazing dynamic here, maybe because it's a deploying squadron, but everyone seems to really understand each other and what we're all experiencing. When my husband is deployed I know I have people I can count on for help around the house or for vent sessions over coffee. The best part is that I really feel I can call all of these people friends and it's such a great feeling. It's nice to know that you aren't alone and that you always have people to spend time with who understand your lifestyle. I noticed this again at the party yesterday. We had people from the Army and Air Force here, different ranks, different trades. We had school teachers, police officers, stay at home wives and mothers and students. But no one cared about any of that. It was pretty great to be a part of!
                                                    

Back to the party...I had a little surprise for my husband for his party. I saw a cookie "bouquet" a friend of mine had had made for her husband. I absolutely loved it so I ordered one for my husband too.

This cookie bouquet was done by a company (really just one woman) called Work of Heart Cookies. She did such an amazing job on them and had a lot of detail in each cookie. Not only do they look good but they taste incredible too!!