Back in January I wrote a post titled Wanted: FRG . I had several complaints about my "non-existent" Family Readiness Group, but the largest of those was the lack of communication from the FRG Leader.
Well, after writing it, re-reading it, and reading all the comments, I decided it really was time to be pro-active; to stop barking behind closed doors. I picked up the telephone and called her (the FRG Leader) again, with nothing but positive results. It is possibly the best thing I'd done for myself all month long.
The premise of my call was to ask her if I'd been added to her mass email list. We had emailed one another a couple of times, but they were all one-on-one emails. Sure enough, she had forgotten to add me to that list. A mistake that was easy to make and just as easily remedied. She promptly emailed me the most recent newsletter from the commander and an informational flyer. There had been communication; I was just missing out on it. Okay, one issue resolved.
I then decided it was time to offer my services again. I let her know that I was not concerned with what group of spouses I called. If she needed some help, I was willing to do just that. I reassured her that my offer was not an empty one. Guess what?! She took me up on my offer and promptly emailed me a calling roster. There is an FRG meeting scheduled for this weekend and I am thrilled that I'll finally have the opportunity to meet other spouses in JD's unit.
Now, for the point of my current post. While I was rightfully upset about the amount of contact I had with my FRG, I did jump to conclusions and assume the worst. In my previous post I made a comment about the commander and his responsibility to have his FRG in good order. What I realize now is that he did those things. Prior to deploying, the rosters were updated and POC's in place. It was after the deployment that the problems surfaced. Which leads me to my newest beef: Rear Detachment. I'll save that for another day, though.
For now, I'm just be pleased that I seem to have found a place in my FRG. And I did it all with one phone call. Okay, two phone calls. However, I now know that my biggest worry, about stepping on toes or coming off as pushy, was unfounded and that it never hurts to make the first move. Or in this case, the first phone call.
