WAVES and the Women Who Made Them

A great deal is asked of us as military spouses during our service member’s time in service.

We leave our families, homes, friends, and all we know to support our spouse’s career. We raise our children alone for long stretches of time, experience new lands and people from all over the world, and handle both the joys and heartbreaks of life with as much grace, resilience, and perspective as we can muster. Some days are better than others.

If we choose to go to school, work outside the home, or create our own business, we do that all while supporting our service member’s career first and foremost. Where, when, and how we live is not determined by us, so our only option is to face our hurdles and rise to the challenge.

When our nation is in need, we come together. It is then that we get to experience the awe of what being a part of the military community truly is.

During the most trying times we learn who we are and all that we are capable of. It isn’t easy. We feel the weight of the sacrifices we make every single day, but we make them anyway because we believe in what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

We’re the silent ranks of the military, but what’s more is that, many of us are first, women. Our history is rich with those who came before us, who have made great personal sacrifices for the overall gain of women. We owe a great deal of respect and gratitude to those who dared to stand up and act.

One such woman is Margaret Durbin, who I had the privilege of meeting many years ago while stationed at Fort Carson. Margaret has been a longtime volunteer in Army Community Service’s Nurturing Program. She was also among the first class of women to serve in Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), a unit of the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1942 during WWII.

As military spouses, we have the unique honor of meeting phenomenal women from all around the world with amazing stories that we wouldn’t otherwise get to hear. These women are now grandmothers and great-grandmothers and their stories are worth listening to, as much can be learned. Margaret said that if she were to give advice to a young person it would be to travel as often as you can. So whatever your heart is pulling you to pursue, do that.

As military spouses, much is required of us, so it is imperative that we nurture ourselves with what fulfills us so that we can pour life into those we love most. These are the things that make life worth living.

“I wanted to serve too.”– Margaret Durbin