Today, there will be no grandparents to squeeze my children tight. There will be no slaps on the back from annoying cousins or nasty looks from prying in-laws. We will gather around our Thanksgiving Day table with no family … by blood.

Instead, there will be loving military wives to hug my children tight, slaps on the back from annoying co-workers and funny looks from some of my closest friends as they drink just a little too much of that holiday wine. We will gather around our Thanksgiving Day table with our family, the military family we have built here in Hawaii and at every duty station we have served at in the last 12 years.

In many ways, they are better than family. We have endured the same hardships, suffered similar losses and celebrated each other’s victories. As military wives, children and soldiers we have a bond that no civilian family member can ever understand or appreciate.

Today, I am grateful for them. When I look around our long table, graced by friends who have become family over the last two years, I know there is no place better to celebrate the blessings of this life.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends and please enjoy joining our contributors as they recount their own Thanksgiving blessings.

Cheers,

Allison

I’m thankful for being able to spend the holidays with my family, celebrating and enjoying each other’s company. I’m thankful for having a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food on my table. I’m grateful to be able to sleep peacefully at night knowing that the U.S. military is watching my back. Lastly, I’m thankful for all my friends, in person and via the internet. You hold a piece of my heart and I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!   - Kira Hooper, The College Spouse

I am thankful for running. When all else fails, I strap on my shoes, my iPod, my watch and hit the road. At this stage of the deployment, it is what I cling to for sanity! – Sarah B. Young, Deployment Soundtrack

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the newest member of our family and all the noise and chaos that comes with our family of four. The mess, the noise and exhaustion mean that we are happy and healthy! As a military family, we feel very fortunate to all be together this holiday season and we are thankful for the men and women who are deployed and away from their families this year while defending our freedom. This military family appreciates you! - Ann Marie Dombrowski, Homefront Spouse

I am thankful for a helpful spouse. As military spouses, our service members aren’t always home with us. But, when my husband is home, his assertive attitude toward domesticity is truly a lifesaver. As new parents, we plundered together through the awkward, sleepless days and nights with a newborn, with no parents in town to help. My husband introduced solid toddler snacks to our daughter. If not for him, she’d probably still be eating baby food! Now, being a nursing student and writer with our child in Pre-K, it’s great to come home to a clean kitchen with dinner cooking, especially on evenings when I have a late clinical. When he’s gone, it’s certainly tough. But while he’s here, sometimes I joke that he’s a better wife than me!  - Samantha Carroll, Contributor