Omega Chapters: Pam

Omega Chapters is a Blog series from your Alum sisters at Sigma Psi Sigma. There are countless chapters we experience throughout our lives and sharing our experiences is a great way to relate to each other. To be clear: No toxic positivity allowed and no humble brags. Shameless brags are perfectly fine! The goal is to connect and inspire.

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How it began

Pam Wilson; MC1985 went from a single lady to a military spouse in the lightning fast span of six months. But there was foundation underneath those six months. Pam didn’t know that she already met the many she would marry in the summer before she headed towards the Palouse wheat fields. They were co-workers at the Bellevue K-Mart as teens and met again 4 years later after college.

The military spouse chapter

Pam was a military spouse for 16 years and will be the first to say that being a military spouse is a hard life.

It requires a profound amount of flexibility and adaptation because active duty demands take priority all day every day. 

At any point, a deployment can be called and the soldier is gone 72 hours later. One day you're half of a team parenting your children. The next day you're a single parent. And when you're half a team again; you'll need to bring the other half of the team up to speed on what's different from when he left.

Military relationships often necessitate frequent shifts between independence and collaboration. While Pam and her family were stationed in Japan, she estimates her husband was away 70% of the time they were on base. Conversely, in San Diego, he held a position that didn't involve travel, allowing him to be home most of the time.

However, being a military spouse also has advantages. Pam remembers military life offered a distinctive, supportive community around the clock, where neighbors are good friends. Living on base means you can approach any neighbor at any hour and find assistance. She formed lifelong friendships that she continues to maintain today. 

She was extremely grateful for the travel and adventure opportunities. She lived in North Carolina, California, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Okinawa, Japan, where her family climbed Mt. Fuji. She also visited China, walked on the Great Wall, and saw the Forbidden Palace.

The trajectory 

When Pam married her now ex-husband, he was deployed to North Carolina to the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

While there, Pam used her degree in early childhood education and was the Assistant Director at the base daycare. During this time; her husband was deployed for six months in the Mediterranean and three months to Cuba over a 2 year period. 

When they moved to California, she continued her early childhood education career and was the Lead Pre-School Teacher on the base. Unlike their stay in North Carolina her husband was home most of the time and this is where

their children were born.

After San Diego, they moved to Virginia and they happened to be at this base when 9/11 hit. Security immediately soared to the highest level and stayed that way for almost a year. They couldn’t have something as simple as a pizza delivered. Nothing was going into the base or off the base without the highest level of scrutiny. 

Japan

From Virginia, they moved to Japan and lived in a Japanese house built for American families that included tatami mats. Soon they moved to base housing where they thrived as a family and after-school activities included swim team, soccer, roller hockey, webelos, and girl scouts. If they found themselves with a free weekend; they would often take a ferry boat to the neighboring islands. 

Summer vacations included Triathlon camps, a trip to the Jr. Olympics in Japan, and  that trip to China where they walked on the Great Wall and visited the Forbidden Palace. 

Pam has a great story about climbing Mt. Fuji. When her children were only 9 and 11 years old, the family hiked up and down Fuji-san over 10 hours total. Let me repeat that - her 9 year old daughter and 11 year old son didn’t complain about a 10 hour hike. All Hail Pam! 

Photo Credit: Fuji Mountain Guides

Fun Fact: A popular tradition is to purchase a walking stick and at different points in the hike, the walking stick is branded with different symbols relating to the location on the hike. 

The Next Chapter

This particular blog is timely because Pam, her son, and her daughter are all headed back to Okinawa next month. Her daughter in particular wants to revisit the place she grew up and show her husband where she lived. Pam is trying to reconnect with friends still there and hopefully will be able to visit the base as well. 

Safe travels Pam! 

We are inspired by you!