This post was written in honor of National Military Spouse Appreciation Day, May 8, 2015, in recognition of the contributions and sacrifices made by military spouses in order to keep our country safe. The author, Amy Mewborn, is the founder of Fit in 60 and a Navy spouse.
Today, we celebrate military spouses. We all hear how much families who lose a loved one in war sacrifice for our freedom, but unless you see it firsthand, you have no idea just how much is sacrificed on a daily basis for all of the freedoms that we enjoy.
I grew up appreciating and respecting our military. Both of my grandfathers served in the military. But as a girl from the Midwest, there just was not a large military presence. War, deployment, and family sacrifice were all things that happened somewhere else. And I never really understood all that went into our men and women being abroad.
It wasn’t until moving to San Diego and actively becoming involved in military life that I could really ever understand what it is like for husbands and fathers to be gone for months (sometimes years) at a time.My husband, Mike just retired from the navy, after almost eight years of active duty and 13 years in the reserves. We met in Hawaii in early 2001 as he was passing through on one of his deployments. I was scheduled to move to San Diego about two weeks after September 11th. At the time of the plane crashes, Mike was on a base in Japan. I think that was the moment when all of us knew that our life was about to change.
Since 2001, our country has experienced some of the hardest fought wars in places like Iraq and Afghanistan – sometimes with families literally spending years apart. In my barre studios, I have had a number of clients whose husbands are Marines. They joke about the “deployment gremlins” (the little creatures that break in and break the washer, dryer, or car as soon as their husband leaves). And they say these things with a smile, a laugh, and a wink – but you know deep down inside, it often just feels like a LOT to handle. Their spouse is gone to a foreign country, often unable to communicate for weeks or months at a time, and everything seems to be going wrong – all at the same time.
So, today (and every other day), we want to recognize our military AND their families. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for all the family hardships and all the sacrifices that are made for us to have the right to speak our mind, bear arms, protest, and all of the other freedoms that were afforded to us by our Constitution. Thank you, spouses, for putting up with the deployment gremlins and for all of the sacrifices you make that often go unnoticed. It is you and your family that make this the best country in the world. If you are a local San Diego military family – we’d love to offer you a special thank you. Please bring this article to our Fit in 60 studio at 3422 Tripp Court for a free week of barre classes in our studio. You can learn more at fitin60.com
Thank you! We appreciate you!
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Amy Mewborn is the founder of Fit in 60 Pilates and Barre and Amy Mewborn Fitness. Her Barre60TM Barre Certification is an ACE Accredited program to certify barre instructors around the world. Her Barre In a BoxTM Program helps women open barre studios around the world. You can learn more about Amy and her programs at amymewbornfitness.com.
