The Big Move

One week after returning home from our honeymoon, we loaded up a moving truck with all of my belongings, and I moved into the apartment that my husband had been renting for the past year in our new state. It was so small, and while we didn't necessarily own anything of great value, we owned a lot of "stuff!" Our budget and our apartment were very tight, but at least we were finally together.

The very next day, my husband left for work and for the first time in a year, I was completely alone. I was without a job and without family or friends nearby. I had gone to college in the same town I had grown up in and this was literally the first time I had ever lived away from my family. I was homesick already. I didn't even know how to get to the nearest grocery store or Walmart. The town we were living in was so small that they didn't even have a Target.... gasp!

Jobs were scarce in our new city, particularly jobs that I was interested in. This awesome new life which I had daydreamed about for the past year was off to a shaky start. I was supposed to be so happy and yet, surrounded by new faces and new places, my heart ached for familiarity.

I surveyed our little living space and thought that maybe a little decorating would help lift my spirits. Oh yeah.... we didn't have any money for decorating. Maybe calling a few friends on the phone would cheer me up.... oh yeah.... they all worked during the day.

This was the first of many times that I felt very isolated as an agent's wife. My grandparent's were in the Army, and I knew that there was a community of women that helped families transition when they were transferred to new posts. As for police wives, rarely did they relocate because their husband's job was typically in the city or county they already lived in. But this federal agency situation was unique and there was no support. I wish blogging had been more popular back then because it would have been nice to share this experience all those years ago and hopefully find others that could sympathize and/or offer support.