If you are like me, there are some days you wish you had a quick reference guide to military life.  If only it was that easy.  But for today and today only, it is!  Most civilian friends have a hard time comprehending the life that we’ve married into so I’ve created a handy guide.  Feel free to cut it out and pass it around!  

MILITARY SPOUSE                                CIVILIAN SPOUSE                       

Always has two forms of ID ready	Searches everywhere for two forms of ID
Is told when to move	Decides when to move
Gets antsy to move every few years	Doesn’t want to move after a few years
Often has a closet full of formal wear	May have one formal outfit
Easily remembers spouse’s SSN but forgets own	Easily knows own SSN but doesn’t have a clue about spouse’s
Scrambles to find three points of contact for kids’ school forms	Has more than three contacts at the ready
Spouse and kids are dependents	Kids are dependents
Probably created a will when first married	Probably thinks about creating a will when they get older
Spouse wears a uniform	Spouse may wear a uniform
Has a drivers license from State X, a car tag from State Y and is living in State Z	Has only one State for all
Address book in Amazon is full of old addresses from your previous duty stations-it’s how you fill out new loan paperwork or rental applications	Address book in Amazon is full of addresses of friends and family members.  No need for references for loans since they’ve lived in one location for more than two years
Might live in a gated community with a military guard	Might live in a gated community with a security guard
Writes dates the European way	Writes dates the American way
Has trouble telling time with a 24-hour clock	Has trouble telling time with a 24-hour clock

We all know that while our differences make us special, our similarities unite us. Remember that we all need friends to get through life and friends don’t have to fit into a chart, they only have to fit into our lives.