Would you like to be Macaroni Kid's Military Mom of the Month? Tell us about yourself! Every mom deserves a salute!
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Meredith Chames
MacDill Airforce Base, Tampa, FL
My husband, Major JoJo Chames, retired after 26 years as a US Marine, and I spent five years active duty in the US Navy right out of high school. We have a nine-year-old son named Elijah and a five-year-old (almost six-year-old) daughter named Audrey. Elijah was born at Fort Belvoir while we were stationed at Quantico, VA, and Audrey was born at Tampa General Hospital three months after we moved here.
What do you like about military life?
I love the opportunity it afforded us to see parts of the United States and the world we may never have seen on our own. Together as a couple we were lucky enough to be either stationed, or to have visited places like the high desert of California in Twentynine Palms, Lawton, OK (yes, even Lawton holds good memories), Coastal NC, Virginia, Florida, Hawaii, Okinawa, Paris, France and Germany. When I was active duty, I was stationed in Wales, UK, and I was able to travel all over Great Britain. What other career can afford opportunities like that? The exposure to other cultures is such a life-enriching experience!
I also appreciate the friends and connections I made. I am a strong, but slightly introverted person. I have a relatively small circle of friends, and as a rule, I don’t put myself out there. I have to say though, being a military wife draws you out of your comfort zones all the time. Being a part of a community that understands you and your life is such a blessing. There is a group of friends I’ve made over the years that I love so very dearly. We have celebrated birthdays and milestones together (sometimes with our husbands there, sometimes not), we have laughed, cried and commiserated. We have been families to one another in ways no one else is able.
What do you not like so much?
Deployments. Well, combat deployments to be more specific. It seems obvious, but having to wave goodbye to the man you love as he heads into harm’s way is heart wrenching. I watched JoJo and his men roll into Bagdad; they were there as Saddam Hussein’s statue was pulled down. But that was after spending days watching the whole Iraq invasion unfold on TV in a way it never had before. It was awful.
Do you have special talents/hobbies? How do you spend your time?
I am a crafty person and love making jewelry. Now that I have kiddos, it’s fun to craft with them. Eli isn’t as interested, but Audrey loves it. Honestly though, I work a lot now. I was able to just barely graduate from nursing school when we were stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC. It was the perfect degree because nursing is so versatile. I ended up as an operating room nurse and when we moved here I went back to work when Audrey was about 18 months old. I am now the Surgical Services Manager of St Joseph’s South Hospital and it is a more-than full time job. On top of that I am working on my Masters in Nursing Leadership. What is wonderful is that I can make the time commitment to those things because JoJo is retired and has the flexibility to work from home. He is an amazing Dad and husband ... I probably don’t say that enough.
What's the most rewarding part of your life? The most challenging?
I have found in life that often times the most rewarding parts can also be the most challenging. My children, family and career are most certainly no exceptions. I adore my family; they are what center me. I am so very fortunate to have two strong, spirited, good hearted, healthy children and a husband who is an incredible role model. Balancing those relationships with a career that I enjoy, and find personal satisfaction in, is an enormous challenge sometimes. Just like every other mother who works outside the home, it never feels like there are enough hours in the day to be everything we feel we should be.
How has being part of a military family shaped you?
I have always been independent and self-sufficient. Those are good traits to have as a military wife. What I needed to learn was how to ask for help and to be able to accept it gracefully and without guilt. I am willing to help others, but have a hard time asking for that same help. But when your husband is gone and your son is screaming himself to sleep for the third evening in a row (you rocked him to sleep multiple times before you got to that point), you need that mom who lives next door whose husband is gone as well to share a glass of wine with. Both of you, sitting in lawn chairs, with baby monitors making it through the next six months.
What has surprised you about military life? Or life since you left the military?
I think what surprised me the most was how much I would miss it. We’ve been here for six years now…this is the longest we have been anywhere as a couple. Our life in the Marine Corps had us moving every three years, sometimes more often than that. I miss starting fresh (no matter how much I hated the packing and unpacking), and I miss the friends that I knew I would run into again and again.
What advice or encouragement can you share?
Embrace the life, love the adventures, hold your family close and cherish the “together” moments. Be proud to be part of "something greater" - it truly is a gift that only a small portion of our country’s population can appreciate.
