This month, September 18 to be exact, marks SpouseBuzz's 10th birthday. For 10 years teams of SpouseBuzz writers have been opening their hearts and souls to you, sharing their opinions and asking you for yours.
For 10 years we have brought you military spouse and family news and trends, tricks and tips and great military life hacks. From our founder, Andi, to our previous executive editor, Jacey, and now under my direction -- we have always looked to be a voice for you and voice to you.
For six of those ten years I have had the honor of writing for SpouseBuzz in some capacity. I was two years deep into military life when I started working for Military.com and found this blog. Already a long time blogger (I started my first MyDearDiary site in 2000), writing was how I dealt with big life changes and challenges. Military life was delivering those in spades, and SpouseBuzz gave me a place to connect.
Since then I've learned to rely on you all. Not only have we tried to make SpouseBuzz a voice for the community, but each day I am grateful for it as a group to which I can turn, too. We don't always get stuff right here, but we know that you're walking the walk with us. We all share one major commonality: military life.
I am grateful for you.
Since SpouseBuzz's founding 10 years ago, you -- yes, you -- have taught me so much about the world and about myself. Here are just a few of the things I have learned.
First, kindness. No matter what someone says or the image they put out online as reality, one thing is guaranteed: every person is dealing with something you and I know nothing about. Remembering that means extending kindness -- especially to the people whose perspectives I don't understand and to those with whom I disagree. It's not only reading your comments and stories that remind me of that -- it's sending my own stories out into the world. I give kindness knowing that kindness has been given to me, even when I did nothing to deserve it.
Remember where you came from. There's another facet to kindness, and it's all about memory. Military life is hard -- and it's especially hard when it's new. Interacting with you through SpouseBuzz has taught me to never forget the feeling of those early military life days when everything was extra dramatic and hard -- and to be gracious to those who are experiencing it for the first time. Your kindness to new spouses is a constant reminder of that.
Great ideas come from fire. Time and again I have seen the best ideas, the most scrappy plans and the right solutions at just the right moment come from the military spouse community. Those flashes of brilliance come from need. It would be easy to just sit back and let life be hard. But working with SpouseBuzz has shown me that that's not how you roll. You stand up and you help yourselves. And I am so thankful I get to be a witness.
We have each other's backs. Great ideas and kindness are one thing. But actually having someone's back is another. The military spouse community is fiercely protective of its own, and while some may sneer and call it "circling the wagons," I think it's one of your best qualities.
Your stories are worth telling. One of my favorite parts of editing and writing for SpouseBuzz are all the amazing stories I get to tell -- the remarkable things you do for your friends, your communities and your families. Those are worth sharing, and I am so lucky that I get to be the one to do it.
Here's to another 10 years of SpouseBuzz. And here's to you, the reason we are here. Cheers.
