We finally got the dreaded Pentagon assignment. And thank God!

There is a saying in the military that at some point, everyone has to "do their time" at the dreaded Pentagon assignment. No one looks forward to it...the traffic, the enormous housing costs, the stress, the commute. Somehow my husband avoided the Pentagon for the first 20 years of his career. Then, as year 21 began...guess where we headed?

To be fair, we sort of chose it, as much as you have any control over your military assignment destiny. It worked like this.

You are just who we need for a 365 in Qatar. (That means a year away, unaccompanied. By yourself.)

Okay, only if you can move my family from the West Coast. I'd like a follow on to the Pentagon. (Okay, it doesn't really work that way, most of that was in our heads. But, he made it happen!)

After lots of phone calls, order amendments, the worst military move in 20 years, and other drama, we found ourselves relocated ourselves from California to Fairfax, VA. He got that 365 to Qatar, with a "follow on" (the next assignment) to the Pentagon. If you look at a map, basically a lateral move directly across the country. 14 days after the truck dropped off our belongings my husband boarded a plane for a one year "tour" in the Middle East.

And here the boys and I were. Washington, D.C. Alone.

Now, let me explain in all fairness, that I was, when I wrote this, in the I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE IT HERE phase of the military PCS (Permanent Change of Station for you civilians. That means a move.). Here is how it works.

WHERE THE HECK AM I? (1-3 months of arriving)

I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE IT HERE (3-6 months after arriving)

YEA, THIS PLACE IS GETTING OLD (defense mechanism in anticipation of new orders)

YES, I CAN'T WAIT TO GET OUT OF HERE (last 3 months of anywhere no matter how amazing).

So, generally, this is the phase where I enjoying being somewhere new.

But, Washington D.C had thrown me a bit of an emotional curve ball. I appreciated being here too. There is something uniquely rewarding to live in the nation's capital after 20 year years as a military spouse. Maybe being old finally has its advantages.

When you walk The Mall and see the huge granite edifices that represent the heart of our government you see the physical manifestation of the sacrifices that your spouse made.

Our marriage has been 20 years of honoring and cherishing each other, but also of service before self, and answering the nation's call. To my husband, it was never a job. It was a true calling. What God created him to do. And over the years I have understood that my calling to support him has been just as significant. You find that sense of fulfillment hidden in the places you get to live in and experience (many you never would have chosen on your own). You find it in the people that open their hearts and homes to you when you own family is far away. And you especially find it on the porches where you drink wine with a fellow spouse in silence. No words are needed. We both get it.

There are those emotions that you have from things that you feel, relationships that you live. These are the emotions that make you who you are...through the stories that unfold in front of you as you live your life.

Then, there are the emotions that stir within you from what you see with your own eyes and experience with your own senses. That is Washington D.C.

You see The National Archives and suddenly the Oath of Office your husband made with every promotion is physically alive...." do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ". There is the building, and inside is the Constitution. Protected.

There is The White House. My mind goes back 22 years to the first Dining Out with the first toast "To the President", to all the offices he has ever worked in with the picture of the Commander in Chief on the wall. He lives right there.

There is a beautiful building next to the White House that used to serve as the War Department. Now, it is the Executive Offices. People in expensive suits go through security to have an audience in that building, busily talking on their cell phones with serious tones and looks on their faces. Everywhere, government business is taking place. Because my husband has helped, in some small way, to make sure we are the strongest and most powerful government on Earth.

And although the word itself has had its own enigmatic connotation over the years, the physical Pentagon building elicits an emotional response all of its own. A five-sided concrete and steel symbol of America's military strength. In a way, a symbol of my husband. A symbol of service.

And then there is Arlington.

Arlington National Cemetery sits on 624 acres of rolling green hills, on land that once belonged to Robert E. Lee and George Washington's descendants. It was a military camp during the Civil War and watched as our country fought itself. And survived.

But its soldiers did not.

When you stand in the midst of Arlington National Cemetery on a beautiful day, with a blue sky above you, green trees and grass surrounding you, and immerse yourself in the middle of over 400,000 graves of veterans and their families you finally understand.

What you SEE in front of you as you gaze across the Potomac at the Capitol and the monuments is BECAUSE of those around you. The military service of others. Like you. Our freedom was not free. In reality, even your life is not truly yours when you serve. It is service before self. But in the end, in that moment when you understand, every sacrifice you had to make to serve was worth it.

And in that moment, our service as a military family feels like an enormous blessing. To be a part of something so significant.

Thank God we got the Pentagon assignment. Even with the traffic.