Saber spouse I farewell

  • Published
  • By Mara Wight
  • 52nd Fighter Wing
I will be in Italy visiting my family for a few weeks just in time to get away from the inspection and to recharge my batteries before the change of command on July 13.

While I am gone, I would like to ask you to please contact your key spouses, squadron first sergeant, squadron lead spouses or the Airman & Family Readiness Center if you should need anything.

Above all, I hope and pray that during these two years together you all have realized that the most important thing we can do for ourselves is to support one another - regardless of rank, squadron or status. Information is power - pass it on and you will make a huge difference in someone's life.

I am not going to say goodbye to you all just yet, but I have to admit that the days are going by very quickly, and I know it will be a significant emotional event for me to leave Spangdahlem in the rear-view mirror July 13 because I have grown a great deal living here with you. I have become much stronger and even more independent.

Most of you know I was active duty. What you may not know is that I hung up my blue uniform the day before I came here, and it was like turning the switch: one day I'm a military member, the next I'm called a dependent and asked for my sponsor's information.

But that really wasn't too bad, and it didn't throw me for a loop because I had all of you to help me through it. Yes, I needed your help as much as you needed mine. Isn't that what friends do for each other? I thank you for your patience, your willingness to "play" along and support me and my team of senior lead spouses. Together we have changed the face of this wing, and what a fabulous wing it is now!

You must be absolutely proud of what you have done to bring about so many changes! You truly are the human weapon system of the Air Force. Without spouses, our active duty could not have done so well with 24 major inspections in 25 months, and I don't know how many local exercise and SAVs. Without our support, they could not have focused on their mission. Without our daily sacrifices, our children would not have done so well at school - the recent Terranova scores have been the highest ever! If we hadn't kept the "home fire burning" there would have been such an increased stress level across the wing that no amount of counseling could have fixed it.

You are moms, dads, spouses, college students, working professionals and friends to one another. Do you realize how powerfully strong and phenomenal you are? You:
Travel
Speak other languages
Take care of the mechanical problems of your vehicles
Nurture your faith
Handle deployments with incredible strength and poise
Have babies while your husbands are thousands of miles away
Stay fit
Prepare healthy meals for your family and those in our community who are sick or needy
Donate time to charity
Volunteer to make our community strong
Work on the spouses dining-in committee
Lead boy or girl scout groups
Attend official military events
Come out to see the band Kiss or the Luxembourg Ambassador
Clean cemeteries
Bake cookies for single Airmen in the dorms
Meet deploying or redeploying Airmen at the Air Mobility Command terminal daily to shake their hands and thank them
Sew specially adapted boxer shorts for our wounded heroes at Landstuhl
Recycle phones to turn into pre-paid phone cardsĀ for deployed Airmen
Write newspaper articles for the spouses
Come to "Spouse 2 Spouse" to help others feel connected
Volunteer to be Spouse Sponsors
Build ties with our German neighbors through the German-American Club
Organize a wing-wide walk for miracles
Organize international bazaars so our spouses and children can enjoy scholarship opportunities
Offer free eye glasses to the children of junior members
Surprise young families with Random Acts of Kindness
Somehow still have time for a cup of coffee at Kuhl Beans and a Spouses'-only movie night at our local Spangdahlem movie theater!

You are amazing and I will miss you all more than words can ever describe.

Thank you for the gifts of strength and courage you gave me during these two years, and thank you for allowing me to barge into your lives, fill up your inboxes with e-mails and for being willing to take this crazy, fast journey toward excellence.

I hope to see as many of you as I can in July, but for now... Arrivederci a presto!

Thank you,
Mara Wight