Happy New Year!

With each year that passes comes memories to cherish and some to forget. I imagine many Coast Guard families are eagerly looking toward what the new year will bring. Many await orders, advancements and boards while others are thrilled with an increase of BAH and possibly COLA. Some delight about and others frown upon the new uniforms coming down the pike and others are giddy with excitement about possible new rates on the horizon.

Personally, this year has been a joyous one for me. Sure there have been low points, but like any part-time optimist, I like to focus on the highs. Late last year, a friend/colleague and I began discussing a project that could benefit the Coast Guard family community. With some effort, the project developed into something very promising in January 2008 and with the help of some talented spouses the project will become so much more in the months and years to come. We are finding ways to support Coast Guard spouses and their families and are inspired by one another to keep growing. Of course, that project would have been nothing but a blip on the radar screen if it wasn’t for the Waiting for Ships blog.

One Big Coastie Family (aka Waiting for Ships) came to fruition this past February. I cannot express my thanks enough to the amazing contributors to this blog. I appreciate each and every one of you! I have been far too absent in posting since I returned to the daily grind and these ladies have kept this little ship afloat with their anecdotes and messages. Many folks have contacted us over the past months to extend their thanks for our blog and connect with their own experiences and that warms my heart.

As this year comes to a close, I wish you and yours a wonderful and prosperous 2009. I am grateful to have my husband by my side this year as there have been many years that he’s been away at sea on this momentous night. If you are as fortunate, hug your loved one close and if you are not, thank you for keeping the home fires burning. I raise my glass to you!

With solemn hearts, we have said fair winds and following seas to many members of this Coast Guard family in 2008. Unexpected tragedies as well as deaths as a result of illness touched many of our lives. The list is long from active and reserve Coasties, to retired Coast Guard personnel to spouses and children. Our sympathies continue to be with the families and friends of all those who have passed on this year.

In closing and in the nautical spirit, I’d like to borrow from the English translation of Scotsman Robert Burn’s poem “Auld Lang Syne”:

We two have paddled in the stream,from morning sun till dine;

But seas between us broad have roaredsince auld lang syne.

Source.

Salut!

Military Artwork

To many, it's a lovely sight to see in the home of a proud sailor. The artwork that celebrates their service.

No, I'm not talking about breathtaking paintings or sketches that might adorn the walls of a museum. Rather, I'm referring to simple black text on a white or manila colored piece of paper. Of course, some people might jazz up their wallscape by throwing in the super colorful fun ones like Order of the Spanish Main, Order of the Rock, Order of Magellan or any other ceremonious certificate.

Many of you know what I'm talking about. It's the famed "I Love Me Wall". I will say this, evidence of my husband's travels, achievements and escapades are relatively new to my home. He has always been adamant that we will not exhibit that stuff in his home. Maybe he's humble. Perhaps he's sick of seeing military stuff. Who knows. For me, I say paint the walls with your accomplishments honey. Go hog wild!

He's begrudgingly tolerated me hanging a few things over the past couple of years. So, long as it's not in-your-face, he's been okay with it. I can appreciate that. Still, I have some fairly bare walls and since we have ample paperwork from the Coast Guard, I figure why not pretty up the space a bit. Heck, he's not home enough to look at it. He can deal, right?

As I've said before, my husband's grandparents hold most of his awards and documents. They have proudly displayed them from the get-go. It's just the way, it's been and he has liked it that way. Still, I'd really love for the old stuff to make it's way to my house (some day). I know they are proud and all, but so am I. Alright, maybe that's a tad selfish of me. After all, we've never displayed this stuff much in the past, and it's usually difficult to tell that we are a military family by our decor. We are your average, run-of-the mill family with a mix of contemporary and traditional tastes. Nothing too fancy and nothing too patriotic. That's changing though. I've even started making nautical (CG related) crafts. Sheesh--what's become of me?

At any rate, isn't it funny how so many of us have our walls covered in certificates and commendations that to your average citizen might just go in a file drawer somewhere? I'm curious to know your thoughts on this: Is it art? Is it narcissism or pride overkill? What does your home look like? Where do those pretty certificates and praise papers reside?

Pomp and Ceremony

I admit it, I'm a sucker for military pomp and ceremony. Everything from the neatly lined rows of folding chairs to the long-winded speeches turns me on. Add in rows of coasties standing at attention in dress uniform and my toes are curling in my sensible pumps. For me, events like award ceremonies, change of command, retirement events are the reward for all the mundane, not so titillating sides of this life. I put up with clothes that smell like diesel fuel and middle of the night phone calls just for such events.

Today I get to gussy up and play military wife at just such an event. This means I had an excuse to go through my closet and 2 large wardrobe boxes in the garage I hadn't unpacked since the last move. It means I have an excuse to break out the curling iron and the (nearly nude) lipstick. It means I get to go through town and feel just a little more privileged than normal because well.... I get to go to this special event that binds my little community in a way the larger civilian community won't ever understand. Most of all, it means I get to see my husband lit up like a Christmas tree in his uniform finery and that image will carry me through the rest of the summer's fantasies.

As fun as the trappings are, the underlying meaning and tradition of such events isn't lost on me either. To be a part of some bigger picture, the lineage of honor and respect, is at the core of the lump that sometimes comes to my throat. For over 230 years the remnants and descendants of George Washington's standing army and Alexander Hamilton's Revenue Cutter Service march on to a call to sacrifice for the greater good... and events like these, such sacrifice is acknowledged and celebrated, and sometimes mourned.

I have had a few spouses over the years ask if it is appropriate or even worth attending such events. For those not raised in homes of military tradition I can understand the hesitance. Are such events really meant for family members or are they primarily meant for active duty members? My heartfelt answer is "go!". You're missing out on one of the best parts of military life if you don't get to attend events like this. These most certainly are designed with both the member and the family in mind. Our coasties dress up and stand proud, and we honor them just by attending. We don't leave empty handed either, we get to curl our toes because who doesn't love to gaze at a man in uniform!