With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I thought I would explain a little about what it is like to experience a holiday in a military family.
One thing that I have to clarify is that not all military families are the same. Yes, we all share some common attributes and habits, but every family has their own way of life that they practice. This is one of the aspects that make up the military lifestyle. We are a widely diverse, and very different from one another, yet we still stand united under the same cause for freedom.
So with that understood…
Let me explain four attributes to holidays in a military family.
1. Differing Locations
Being in the military, the most we’ve ever spent at one assignment was about three years. (And that was quite a long time) So naturally, we spent almost every other Christmas in a different home, all over the world.
Now some would hear this a cringe, but there are others who would love it. There are ups and downs.
The ups are that we’ve been able to spend our special days of the year in very amazing places.
I can remember one Christmas in particular - we walked through an old town square of a small village in Germany. The snow lightly fell as we explored the many different christmas stands that were set up around the square, and sipped from steaming mugs of cider and hot chocolate. Christmas music filled the air, and they had fires set up randomly throughout the square. It was practically storybook beautiful.
But one down is that we don’t get the opportunity to spend too many holidays with extended family. Every once and a while we get the chance to visit, but most often we don’t get that experience.
2. Traditions
In order to combat the changing environments, my family has created many traditions that we practice, especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time of year.
These include small things like always inviting friends over for thanksgiving dinner, or opening a present on Christmas eve.
These small things are what we know to look forward to, and they make our holidays so much more fun.
3. Meeting People (again, and again, and again)
The military is a small place. It’s not uncommon to be stationed with one family on one base, and then turn around three years later and be stationed with them again on a different base. There’s a constant circular door in the military and its great.
So it’s not uncommon to spend the holiday with someone at one base, and then spend that same holiday with that same person at a completely different base. It’s a revolving door of friends.
4. Care Packages
So many times in military life active duty members are sent overseas to fight for our country. And on many occasions, these deployments happen over the holidays. So to make due, families will send care packages filled with presents, letters, treats, and love from home to these soldiers, airmen, and sailors. It's one way that we cope.
In closing:
Think about what YOU do for your holidays. Are there things that you do with your family and friends that are different than most other people? What are the things that you love to do, or would want to do?
And then why not make some new memories this year? Go out and do something different, and maybe you’ll find a new tradition for your holidays.
