By: Bari D. Wald, Military Spouse and Reservist
I live in two worlds. These two worlds are the same world, but with surprisingly different experiences based on which world I’m occupying.
One world knows and refers to me by my first name, the other by my last.
One world is 92% female while the other is 80% male.
One world sometimes wears the rank they didn’t earn…you know the ones, while the other earns every bit of rank on their uniform. If this accusation makes you angry, you’re probably “the one.”
I live in two worlds.
One world is sometimes dangerously stuck in a 1950’s era of thinking with their wives clubs and bake-offs, while the other has courageously embraced the current ever-changing times.
One world wants to know where my spouse works, his rank, his job, while the other wants to know where I work, my rank, my job.
One world asks when I’m going to quit my job to stay at home with my kids, the other asks when I’m returning for duty.
These two worlds, with their different expectations of what I should be, collide and confuse me. I live in constant fluctuation… am I Bari or am I Wald?
I live in two worlds.
These two worlds, so vastly different, yet supporting, directly or indirectly, the same mission. These two worlds, a contradiction of expectation. These two worlds…my ONE world.