• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

  • Home
    • My Disclosure Policy
    • My Privacy Policy
    • Contact Me
  • Advertise
  • The SWCL Shop
  • Duty Stations
  • Want to Write a Guest Post?
  • Fort Campbell
  • So Your Spouse Just Deployed??? Click Here!!!
  • The Military Spouse’s Directory Of Military Discounts
You are here: Home / Military Life / To the Military Spouse Who is Far Away From Family

To the Military Spouse Who is Far Away From Family

April 27, 2023 by Julie

To the Military Spouse Who is Far Away From Family

Today is my mom’s birthday. I so wish I could be with her today. I would have taken part of the day off to take her to breakfast or lunch, probably both. We all could have joined her for a family dinner that night. My boys and I could have made her a cake and opened presents together.

But instead, I will give my mom a call later today, hope that the package I sent for her birthday makes it in time, and think about how in the future maybe, just maybe we could be together for our birthdays.

Living far away from family can be challenging, and military families have to do this for most of their time in the service. Some are lucky and are able to live close enough to visit often, or their family will move to be with them.

But for everyone else, raising your children far away from your family is a part of the military life package. It’s something you have to get used to and make the best of. Because there isn’t much you can do about it.

To the military spouse far away from family, I know being away can be hard.

To have to miss the little things going on back home.

Sunday dinners with the family

Date nights while your children are safe with grandma and grandpa

Grandparent’s Day at school

Taking your brother or sister out for their birthday

Mother’s Day at Grandma’s house

Being there when a family member is hurting

The list could go on and on…

What we miss can hit us hard, even when we least expect it. When we can’t go home for Christmas, we can tell ourselves that we are fine with that, but when the day comes, the sadness can hit us hard. Just a reminder that you are living your life in a different way than you thought that you would.

As a military family, you become the ones that are always visiting but never really there. Your children are the visitors, the ones that don’t know what it is like to live near family and all the blessings that can bring.

This can be so difficult because as parents we always want the best for our children. We want them to feel all the love that they can. And we know that by living across the country from the people we love the most hurts, and in ways, our children might not even realize.

How do you make the best of being away from family?

Take trips home

When you can take a trip home, do so. Visiting will help with the distance, even if you can only do so every few years. Encourage your family to come out and visit you too.

If you are stationed in Europe, encourage your family to visit for a few weeks. This could be their only chance to visit Europe, and they can do so without having to spend a dime on a hotel. Check for airline discounts and make plans when your spouse has leave coming up.

Facetime

Talk on Facetime. The kids love this, and it is so nice to see people on video vs just hearing their voice. Try to set up a regular day each week to Facetime so that everyone is ready for the call.

There are so many more ways to talk with people today, even from thousands of miles away. Take advantage of them.

Share stories and photos

Facebook is ideal for this. Share stories about your kids as well as photos. The more your share with your family members, the more they will get to know the personalities of your children.

They will learn more about your daily life and what you have been up to. Long email updates can work too. Keeping the people back home updated is how to stay bonded through the distance. Hopefully, they will be doing the same.

Think of what you have gained

Believe it or not, there are benefits to raising your family far from home. Your friendships can be deeper because you are spending more time with those you have chosen to call your friends. You spend the holidays together, get through deployments together, and can bond in ways you never would with your family.

Being far away means you won’t be involved in as much family drama. This can be important for some families. It’s easy to think that everything will be perfect if you could just live near them too but daily life, different emotions, opinions, as well as expectations, can leave to tensions within a family.

Remember, this isn’t forever

Although it might seem like you will always be so far from them, things will change. If you are overseas, you will eventually move back to the States. If you live on the East Coast, you might end up on the West Coast.

Your family could move, or you could get out of the military and settle near them too. Being away from family doesn’t always last forever so keep that in mind when you are missing them the most.

How far are you away from your family? Does that distance bother you?

Support Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

Filed Under: Military Life Tagged With: military life, Milspouse

About Julie

Owner of Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life. Writer, reader, coffee drinker. Mom to three boys, wife of a National Guard soldier. Living life in Tennessee.

Previous Post: « 12 Memes About Military Kids
Next Post: When is The Best Time For a Military Family To Have a Baby? »

Primary Sidebar

Support Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life!

Buy Me a Coffee

Sign up for your FREE Guide to the First 30 Days of Deployment!


Thank you!

Check your email for confirmation! 

.

About Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

 

Welcome to Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life! I am so glad you are here.

My name is Julie and I first became a military spouse in 2005 when my husband of 3 years re-joined the Army. Then, in 2014, he joined the National Guard. In January of 2024, he retired from the National Guard after 21 years of service.

During our time in the military, we got to spend 4 years in Germany as well as Tennessee where we now call home.

We have three boys and have been through four deployments together.

I hope that you can find support for your own deployments, PCS moves, or anything else military life brings you through my articles and social media posts.

 

Archives

Copyright © 2025 Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life on the Foodie Pro Theme

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT