There are great support groups out there…

  After much debate and a long run around my husband finally wound up on the USS Needs A Lot Of Work. I hadn’t heard anything about their family support group but figured there must be something since it is an active boat. Little did I know how great the FSG would be.

  Just a few short days after my husband reported to the NALOW and a few days before our thrid anniversary (yes, we’re the young newbies) I was pleasantly surprised to see a card from the CO’s wife wishing us a happy anniversary. I thought to myself, “Wow, this is different, on our old boat we never would have seen anything like this.” It was a nice gesture but I didn’t expect much more than that since there wasn’t a very good FSG on our previous boat.

 Later in the week I had a message on our answering machine from the CO’s wife extending an invitation to meet myself and our son. I called back, a little nervous because I wasn’t used to being so informal with the CO’s wife. I had a nice conversation with her and learned what kind of FSG they were looking to put together and the things they are hoping to do. She also makes a point to personally meet each new family and gives them a welcome bag full of goodies. What a huge change that was from the last FSG.

 So, on that note, I just want to tell you all to give your FSG a try. Who knows, you may have a great support group under your nose and you don’t know it… but then again, it may be unorganized and not focused and could be a bad experience. But, give it a shot. I know so many wives who are anti-FSG because they have had a bad experience with rumors and rotten people. Just give it a try and don’t let one bad experience ruin FSG forever.