This Memorial Day I would like to give a shout out to all the military spouses in the land of the brave. Your service counts too! I am a former military spouse and I understand the hardship families face in the name of freedom.

A lot of time and effort goes into organizing and setting up a new healthy home environment with each move a military family has to make. When I was a military spouse, we moved the four times within five years of service. With each move, I was in charge of getting us settled our new space. This includes figuring out where the closest and least expensive grocery store was in order to stock our new pantry and refrigerator with healthy items, and where to buy kitchen appliances that broke and didn’t survive the move.

All those moves were not easy on our health or budget either. We did a lot of take out, fast food and meals in restaurants until we got fully settled. A couple of times, we had to live in hotel room for a month or so before we could even move into our new home on base. Sometimes I slacked on exercise, feeling drained of energy and full of anxiety, and neglected my health. Those transitional times were some of the most stressful times we faced as a family unit.

However, we were fortunate because with each new move, we were not alone. Military families know and understand the concept of a transitional lifestyle, and there was always people around us in the same situation. Spouses would talk and share ideas and advice about where the best deals in town were to buy stuff, and how they made their new home a healthy family environment. Luckily, I always made new friends with each move, and years later, even though we are all in different states and cities across the globe, we keep in touch and talk about life in our new place and space.

Lisa Hallett, a wife of a soldier in one of the units we served with, unfortunately lost her husband in the fight for our freedom. To help her face her grief straight-on, she founded the organization, wear blue: run to remember (http://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/). According to the website, “Surviving the loss of her husband, best friend, and father of her three young children, Lisa turned to running.  An avid runner, she soon found a community that needed the same kind of support that running gave her.  Creating wear blue gave Lisa a healthy outlet for her grief and a path to move forward, and she’s committed to sharing that with others.” On this Memorial Day, I give a shout out to all the spouses who, like Lisa, remain forever strong, supportive and savvy members of the global military community. Thanks y’all!

Please visit, http://www.wearblueruntoremember.org/, to organize a meet-up, or donate money or miles to wear blue: run to remember‘s awesome cause.