I am an Army wife. It is all I have been for the last 11 years. It is my job. It is what I do. I have lived through the agony of deployments with little or no communication with my soldier. I have lived through deployments with too much communication. If I weren't an Army wife, I don't know who or what I would be.

I was scrolling through my Twitter today looking to see what people were doing at 3 in the afternoon and I happened upon a group of "girlfriends". It is a group of ladies that chat around their virtual table at different times of the day. Their discussions spanned the standard list of relationship issues: keeping the romance alive, love languages, blended families and such. But, the relationship topics I turn to are, 'How about keeping romance alive when all you have is Skype for 12 months,' or 'How your love language might change after five deployments.' You get the idea.

My lifestyle didn’t quite fit nicely into their other discussions either.

I have not been a single mom, but I have been a geographically single mom. Does that count?

I am not a working mom, but I have volunteered almost as much, if not more, than some people work in a week. Does that count?

Where on Earth do I fit in? What is my category? Sometimes I feel like an octagonal peg in a rectangular hole when I try to make my way in the civilian world. 

Since my youngest has started school, I have decided to look for some sort of employment to help my family gain financial freedom. I have put together my resume. I have had trusted and knowledgeable friends check it and recheck it. I have written cover letters and spent hours on the phone with my editor to make certain they were perfect.

So why is it that I can't seem to get a call back or an interview? Is volunteer experience any less important than paid experience? How do I not take it so personally when I don't get a call back?

Is the solution to just create my own job and niche in this world? I am not really sure. But we can explore that together in the weeks to come. What I am sure of, is that I will keep volunteering no matter what!

Strength and Courage ... sby