Army Wives: You Write the Script

Last week when we talked with Katherine Fugate, creator of Army Wives, we didn't have enough time to get to some suggestions for story lines/plots. But Katherine did say that her goal is to tell your stories and that true stories are appealing to her. Apparently, they read stories sent to them and give them consideration. We told Katherine that we would open a thread at SpouseBUZZ soliciting your ideas for story lines based on your own experiences. So here's your chance to write a script. Who knows, maybe one day you'll see Denise or Pamela or Roxy portraying your story!

Please leave comments (anonymous if you choose) and we'll be sure to pass them on to Katherine. Army Wives is a drama, but it has humor and touches on many aspects of military life - the challenges and the joys. So, feel free to share funny or serious stories.

If you don't have a personal story to share, you can also leave ideas, suggestions for story lines, list topics you would like to see the show address or suggestions for improving the show.

After the jump is a funny story from a real Army wife.

One Army wife came from a very small town where only one person she knew was a military brat. She knew nothing about military culture. When she met her husband during Desert Storm the news was filled with inspirational pieces on supporting our troops and heroism. Her friends told her it was a big deal to marry a hero. They would miss her, but they were excited for her, and curious about military life. They had worked her up into such a frenzy that by the time she moved in with her husband, she was scared to death she would say or do something wrong and she wondered if she would ever fit in (like Roxy).

Only one month after they married, her husband told her they were going to go to Easter brunch on post and there she would meet his battle buddies and their wives. She was very nervous. When she got there, they all sat around a big, round table and she immediately felt like an outsider. She didn't speak their language, or understand many of the things they were talking about. She was the newbie and although the wives were pleasant to her, she still felt awkward.

She was wearing a pink silk suit, the only decent piece of clothing she owned. Her heart was fluttering and let's just say that it wasn't one of those "raise your hands if your Sure" moments. She felt the perspiration gathering under her arms and knew it had to be visible on the soft pink fabric. She excused herself and went to the bathroom only to find large wet spots under both of her arms. She grabbed a stack of those harsh paper towels you find in bathrooms and went into a stall where she took off her top and tried her best to bleed the perspiration from the fabric. It wasn't working fast enough and she couldn't very well stay in the bathroom until it was dry again so she took some of the paper towels and placed them under her suit between her armpits and the top hoping that would stop the flow from transferring to her top.

There was still the issue of the wet spots. That's when she turned to the blower. With nobody else in the bathroom, she punched the button and contorted her body so her armpits, one at a time, could fit under the blower. And someone walked in. Luckily, it wasn't a woman sitting at her table, but she was still humiliated and limped out of the bathroom with her now only slightly soiled underarms and paper towels stuffed inside her suit, hoping that the wife who barged in on her didn't end up being the wife of her husband's superior, or even know her husband, for that matter.

She laughs when she thinks back on that day so long ago when she wondered if she was cut out for this life. Turns out she was.

Too funny! Sounds similar to Roxy's story at the formal, doesn't it? Only a little more humiliating because she didn't spill something, she sweated something. It shows how nerve-racking it can be to try to gain your footing in an unknown world. I'll bet most of us have a story about firsts. First trip to the commissary, first FRG/KV meeting, first move, first social function, and on and on.

I would assume that as new people move onto the post this season, and the next, there would continue to be a focus on the struggle to fit in and how often we build things up to be more stressful than they really are, or need to be.

Comments

[Laura Roberts]

Well this may or maynot lead to ideas but I just posted this in my eblog...I guess I'd just like to see a real potrayal of all we go through...for example I suffered a mild stroke during this past deployment...and being stubborn simply handled things myself. But here is my post.

How do you do it?
I get that question all the time "how do you put up with being a military wife?". With all the deployments and seperations one would have to be nuts right? I'm sure many feel that way and sometimes I do to.

We are coming to the end of a 15 month tour...in a few weeks my wonderful Soldier will once again come marching home. Once again I'll have someone to hold, to talk to, and for the first time in months know that he is safe. We will have many adjustments to go through, much to talk about and catch up, we will have to redefine our roles in our family structure. We will go through as many changes and adjustments as we had to when he deployed.

I've been asked the above question hundreds of times and I just really never knew exactly how to answer it that would convey to them my deep commitment to my husband and reasoning for putting up with this roller coaster life.

Today while listening to the radio, I heard the song that summed it all up quite nicely for me. And so this is my answer:

I'd rather live with him in his world then live without him in mine..~From the Song entitlted "Midnight Train to Georgia".

That says it all for me. When I met my now husband, I knew he was in the military and having been an Army brat and Air Force vet myself knew all that this entailed. Yet I still made the choice to come and share his life with him. We've grown closer with each deployement and seperation if one can believe that. What's the key...open honest communications at ALL TIMES. And I don't mean griping about the small crap, but talking about feelings and helping each other get through those times that are a little shakey. Only then can you make it work. Keith and I are stronger because of it...and our love for one another grows with each passing day. We have our goals and dreams and that is what we focus on.

My life is richer and fuller than I could ever have imagined. So don't feel sorry for me. I'm proud of my husband and his service to this country. And whatever I can do to aid in that I'll do. I chose to love my Soldier, and it is not a hardship but an honor.

So from now on when you ask me why? Well my answer is I'd rather live with him in his world then live without him in mine.

Blessings to All
Stay safe and come home soon
Laura Roberts, Proud Army Wife

[Butterfly Wife]

How about a story line that looks at a Soldier being asked to stay for another tour rather than coming home to his family. There is lots of angst and drama that could be done surrounding that. The family seriously considers the offer. Perhaps it involves a prestigous position, a bonus, something. On the downside, aside from the being away from family, it would mean being separated from his unit as well. Of course, the family only has a few days to think about it, discuss it long distance, and come to a conclusion. Maybe they decide to accept the offer, maybe they don't. But it is certainly real life. I know that it has happened to more people then just me.

[Linda]

One of the things I found unrealistic when Army Wives first started was how Roxie and Trevor got a house immediately upon getting married. For many of us, housing is a struggle (we've been on the list for 20 months and I refuse to get into it right now)...

I just think that it would be good to see a few more realistic things...

[Andi]

I think that's a great idea, Linda. They all live on post right now, and while I can see it makes it easier for the scripts and the neighborhood drama, it would be nice to show a spouse who lives off post and what that entails.

I've heard both sides of this issue - some like not feeling as if they're living in a fishbowl and some who live off-post would like to be able to enjoy the perks of being on post (safety, walking to places, sense of community, etc.).

At the very least, they could feature a wife who is at the tail end of the waiting list, show a little of that and then move her on post.

[Reasa]

A story about a reservist going back to active duty would be interesting. Alot of drama can happen there. Everything from the descion to the actual life is a roller coaster ride. Especially in a time of war.

[MO]

How about some FRG meetings... LOL, or is that too hostile :P, j/k.

I was like Roxy in the beginning, thinking my husband needed to salute anybody who outranked him. He said he'd have his arm up all day.

You know they have really touched on a lot of things, I keep thinking what about... oh yeah they did that already, or how about... no no Denise did that.

Well I will keep with the FRG thing, let's see one of them lead for the first time I know most of us have stories about that, funny, frustrating, and my personal favorite the anxiety part... :P

[Marine Wife]

They could have a wife give birth while the soldier is deployed. I thought of that b/c I recently saw some of those welcome home sheets and one said, "I finally get to meet Daddy!"

[ArmyWifeNC]

I watch the show and rarely see anything my girlfriends and I can relate to. We are all 20 something, almost 30s, Army wives with careers and no kids. We live off base and love and support each other like sisters. We met through lots of weird circumstances since our husbands don't work together. We have hung tough for one another while our husbands travel back and forth from the sandbox over the last two years. I would love to see a storyline with woman who don't work on post and OMG don't have kids!!!

[airforcewife]

What about a family whose kid pees on the base commander's lawn? That same family would have a very clumsy daughter who nearly beaned the chaplain with the crucifix while altar serving for the first time...

Oh, and the wife of that family would JUST HAPPEN to go to an awards ceremony for her husband wearing what she thought were a very cute pair of pants... not realizing there was a rip in the butt of them.

Also, how about tackling housing privatization? It seems so beauraucratic (or however that is spelled), and yet emotions fly higher in regards to that than they do about actual deployments sometimes!

[Marine Wife]

How about a family jumping thru hoops to make an overseas move (maybe with short notice)? Then, they get overseas, and the soldier deploys. Hey, it happens.

[Marine Wife]

Or... a wife who's husband is deployed finds out she has a chronic illness. I know of one spouse who was diagnosed with both Lyme's disease AND MS during her husband's year-long deployment. Those are serious gremlins.

[liberal army wife]

HOw about a parent? I know that Frank's boy will be going, but what about a parent who is on the "outside" but is somehow known by someone in the cast - a cousin? ex neighbour? I KNOW it's Army Wives, but it could be a great education tool for the Wife (Roxy? newbie wife, learns about the hard stuff, the acronyms, the whole deal)

I like the Guard Wife idea - I'm living that one.

LAW

[Tammy Munson]

I think that a good story line would be a wife who is thrown into Army life when her husband decides to enlist in his early 30's. She's been a civilian wife/mom for almost 8 years at this point.

Another one would be a wife who has a child with special needs and they could show all the trials and tribulations of Tricare and the health care system.

And my final idea, feature a woman who met a solider while deployed thru a penpal and became romantically involved and thrown into Army life. (this is my best freind's story)

In case you're wondering I'm living #1 and #2. : )

[Armywife97]

I've been an Army wife for 11 years and my husband and I are making a transition in our military life...he has decided to go Special Forces...I'm supporing him but am very scared of what this may bring. I've heard that being SF is a totally different world, so maybe one of the characters go through something like this.

[wendy's tiki hut]

My favorite "my life as a military wife" story is just a simple evening at a coffee - not a big story line...

Background - Coffees make me really nervous, I'm not good at small talk. And as a Mormon I don't drink alcohol (or coffee for that matter. Why are they always called "coffees"?)

It was a St. Patty's day themed coffee with lots of festive green decorations and Irish-y foods.

There was some excellent bread on the table and over the course of the evening I ate atleast 5 slices. It was so yummy. Tender and sweet. perfect.

I was about to have another slice when I asked the hostess for the recipe for her terrific bread... it turns out it was Irish Whiskey Cake...

She says the alcohol probably all baked out, but I'm not sure about that... I had a great time at that coffee and didn't feel at all awkward or shy....

[Proud AF JAG wife]

I am partial to the idea of having a new young officer's wife move in. I lived that one! I left my career working at a University when my husband became a 1st Leutenant in the Air Force. Of course, I knew nothing about AF life and after reading the ancient copy of an Air Force Wife manual I automatically assumed that we were to all wear white gloves and carry around calling cards (18 years later, I do like the calling card idea, however). I was relieved to see at my first Wing Wives Club meeting that I was ill-informed and all the other wives were down to earth and easy to talk to. However, I made the mistake of relaxing a little to much. As the meeting wound down and others were beginning to tell jokes (some quite dirty), I proceeded to tell one which I learned at the University regarding sorority girls. The house went quiet. What I failed to notice earlier was most of the other wives -- especially the ones married to Colonels (and possibly one General) -- had daughters attending college!
With this story in mind. I'd love to see Roxy become a mentor to a young officer's wife. I want to see a new side of her that can teach a new wife (who's husband out-ranks her own) about life in the Army. I would love to see the reactions of some of the other officer's wives (you know the ones... who think THEY wear their husband's ranks) as they become friends. I believe there could be so many stories that can be told with the two characters; especailly seeing Roxy in a new role.

[New Army Wife]

I would like to see an older wife (early 40's), one who has been on her own with her husband when he decides that he needs to take care of some old business and decides to go back into the military; even if it means giving up his civilian life. Everyone he knows says, "WHAT! Are you Crazy?"

The wife, who is supportive and the children, who say "yes", and the things they go through to understand a new way of life. Believe me, there is a lot of humor that happens in this transition and growth as they move from a civilian life to a life of deployments, rules, regulations, and a language all new, etc.

I would love to see the development and depth that an older wife would bring; who herself is trying to get through her own mid life issues and how they all would rally.

I know that this character exists- I am one of them.

Would love to share the stories....with Army Wives.
God Bless.

[plibarmywife]

New Army Wife - yeah! being in my early 50's and back in Active Army life - not a lot of folks who are my age and still in. even the little things, like finding a shirt for the grandbaby saying "my grand daddy is in the Army"...

JAG wife - don't think they'd put Roxie with an officer's wife. sponsors are usually (in my experience) same rank structure. or am I dating myself??

LAW

[Proud AF JAG wife]

what I had meant was for Roxy to meet this individual through other means -- not to be a sponsor. It's not uncommon (expecially in my experiences) that a service member's sponsor is either unmarried, dual-military, or living apart from his/her spouse. I can only remember 1 time (in 18 years and 7 PCS's) that our sponsor was actually married; and even then I didn't meet his wife til over a year later! However, can you imagine if this newby did have a sponsor from her husband's squadron who had a disagreable personality? I think she might welcome Roxy's friendship if they were to meet, say, at the PX or just passing by for directions around the post. Oh, that could be fun to watch! :)

[MomandWife]

My story line is my life that I have lived for the past 2 yrs. that I've been with my husband. My husband and I met online. I was a divorced single mom of one, a nurse, and a full time college student. I had given up on love and met my future husband on total accident. We became friends online and then after a month or two, we finally met in person. We ended up being the perfect match and were totally soul mates. He told me when we first started dating that he was here at the base we are at to train and prepare to go to Iraq. A year away seemed so far and I never gave it much thought. I never even thought we'd still be together, to tell you the truth. I was so used to men being abusive a-holes to me, that I never thought I would actually find a good one and would fall in love and marry him. The Iraq thing never once went through my mind until about 3 mos. later, when I realized I loved this man, and he loved me and my daughter, and we were wanting to get married and be a family together. Then it dawned on me, I was about to lose all that to a deployment for a year in a war zone with him on the "front lines." Exactly one year after we started dating, we decided to get married during his 15 day R&R, although we had already planned to wait til he got home, but things just changed all of a sudden a few days before he was due to come home. We knew we were going to have to worry about moving and housing when he came home, and this just seemed ideal because we could be on the waiting list for housing while he was deployed and would have it ready for us when he got home, which is EXACTLY how it panned out for us. While he was deployed, I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do than to support him and his brother. They both deployed with the Army, from 2 different bases, on the same day! His brother got extended, but my husband came home after 12 mos. (Now they are both home.) I supported him and his brother (and all the troops over there) by creating a project I named "Operation Return the Favor." I was in college at the time and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. I decided to get Phi Theta Kappa involved. With their help, what started out just helping my husband's and then his brother's units, continues on today and has ended up being something big that has helped now 4 units at our base and has been branched out to help the Air Force base near my college. We collect necessities for the soldiers who are returning to the base barracks from deployment to Iraq. While my husband and bro-in-law were deployed, I collected over 3,000 Christmas cards for my husband's unit and over 200 Christmas cards for my bro-in-law's unit. Now that they are both home, everything is going grand, except I just found out that my bro-in-law got Stop Lossed and is going back to Iraq in Feb. and he was due to get out in March. Now my husband is considering re-enlisting for another year. All of our plans for him getting out, may now be shoved to the side. His unit wants to keep him and promote him and make him a "trainer" that I guess they need really bad. His unit just made me FRG leader. What I thought was just a phase, now seems to be becoming our life. On top of all that, our child has been affected by the school system on base being less than adequate and very unstable. She is only 6 and has already lost 4 friends due to PCS...all in a matter of 7 months! She can't keep a friend, and she is having problems in the school because of the way it's ran, so we have decided to put her in civilian school next school year.

Any and all of this, I'm sure could have a lot of families relating to it...especially military families!

[MomandWife]

I have another suggestion. How about a dual-military couple with (or without) kids, who have always been together and have always been stationed together throughout their whole military career, then all of a sudden, one of them is called off to war. This leaves the other one to be a single parent, which he or she has never done before, plus he or she has to maintain a household on his or her own, which he or she has never done before without his or her spouse.

This is the life of a NCO in my husband's unit. This kind of thing is pretty common, yet you never hear of it. I think this should be brought to life.

[Still the One]

I think the Guard Wife idea is a great one too -- especially with all the deployments. And it carries a lot of tension too, with some of the biases between regular army and guard. I think most of that gets put by the wayside during deployments and everyone learns new respect for each other. Potential there for interesting storylines.

For Guard Wives there's also less of a support network in many ways, because they don't live on base and many don't know each other or have common interaction other than FRG.

My husband and I were college sweethearts, and during our college relationship is when he joined the Guard (with my full support). We ended up breaking up in college (for whatever reason) and went our separate ways. We came across each other again 16 years later, still madly in love, and we got married and he adopted my then teenage daughter. Then we had a baby somewhat unexpectedly (so now a toddler and a late teenager). He was deployed to Iraq before our son was 2 years old.

The FRG was helpful, but I lived so far away that I felt pretty isolated most of the time. Friends and family were supportive, but they're not military... I think a lot of parents of deployed troops have similar feelings of isolation in the whole process, which Marine Wife also mentioned above.

[Still the One]

oops - it was LAW (liberal army wife) whose suggestions for Guard Wife and parents I was seconding -- Sorry!!

:-)

[robin]

There is a newscreen stage in Colquitt, Ga....out in farmland. You would probably be close to the big fort in ColumbUS I believe
(Benning,) aCROSS THE STATE FROM SUBMARINE BASE AND THE ENTIRE fLTEC
lOTS OF OPPORTURTINES FOR MILITARY EXPERIENCES.

sOME RECOGNIZABLE bLACK ARTIST
IS TRYING TO DO THIS, AND aRMY WIVES MIGHT BE WHAT YOU ALL WANT FOR A CHANGE...IN AN LESS EXPENSIVE VENUE. yOU CAN TAKE DAY TRIPS TO THE mTS.BEACH, AND IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT STORY LINES, i'M OPEN. hOPE SOME OF THIS HELPS. and THAT YOU CHECK IT OUT, IT WILL NOT BE MY LOST,BUT YOU YOURS. bLESSINGS & HUGS, rOBIN

[robin]

tHERE IS A SOUNDSTAGE/PRODUCTION FACILITY NEAR cOLQUIT, ga OUT IN THE FARMLAND THAT IS TRYING TO ATTRACT MOVIES. tHEY HAVE ALREADY MAKE SEVERAL. i THINK THAT THIS WOULD BE AGOOD ALTERNATIVE FOR AW. aS i SAID PREVIOUSLY, THERE ARE SEVERAL REAL BASES AROUND,AND THE fEDERAL lAW eNFORCAME TRAINING CENTER. tHIS MIGHT BE A WAY TO SAVE MONEY. hope someone who needs to know, bread this. Thank you & God Bless