Dear MSJDNers,

This is a bittersweet issue for me to be sending you. For nearly three years now, I’ve served as your trusty Newsletter Editor. Since before there was a Bars and Stripes, before there was a Writer’s Corps or even a blog, I have been filling your inboxes with news, notes, some words of comfort, some major successes, and even some tears.  Do you remember, MSJDNers, when we took this medium and made it our own? Do you remember the competition to name it? When we rolled out the new masthead? The many story ideas you’ve sent me, all about amazing, wonderful, inspiring YOU?

I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me getting to help in the telling of your stories. From pieces about milspouseJDs making a career work in some truly remarkable places, to stories about families learning to love and thrive across the distance, to stories literally decades in the making. From victories in many states to rally cries against backsliding in others (#Nix296, anyone?), to the chance to support one of our own as she ascended to incredible professional heights, against incredible odds–I have loved being a part of it all!

So it’s with a twinge in my heart that I tell you this is my last newsletter as your Editor. But change is good, especially as we continue to grow, and it’s time to let someone else bask in the telling of your stories. I hope you will continue to tell them, my friends. Since we were always a remote family, most of my life as a milspouse has been spent not in the military world, but among civilians. For some, my becoming an Army wife was a huge education for them–and for me! It taught me that people care; they want to help; and they need to know what we need. So be sure you tell them every chance you get!

I wish you, all of you, the very best! Keep being awesome!

Your Devoted Editor,

Reda