#IMSCFamily: Emily Richardson

  • Published
  • AFIMSC Public Affairs

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Meet #IMSCFamily Emily Richardson, wife of Lt. Col. Steven Richardson, deputy chief of the Chaplain Corps Division in AFIMSC’s Installation Support Directorate, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. She’s our #IMSCFamily spotlight of the month for April. 

She’s been around the military for 22 years as a spouse and two years as a military family life counselor in Alaska and Texas. 

We asked her to share a little more about her life with the military.

What’s your first memory as the spouse of an Airman?
We had just arrived at our first assignment to Eglin AFB, Florida, and pulled into the temporary lodging facility. The water was blue, the air was rich with a salty breeze and the sun was so warm. I remember thinking, “Wow, how beautiful. I can’t believe we live here now!”

What’s your best experience as the spouse of an Airman?
Meeting wonderful people from all over the world, living in cool places like the United Kingdom and Alaska, and eating delicious local food.

What’s a challenge you and your spouse overcame as a team?
To reconnect in healthy ways after my spouse’s first deployment to Afghanistan. He was in a dangerous area and I was just trying to survive with three small boys while finishing my masters in counseling and juggling an internship. When he returned, we had both gone through some very difficult times separately. Our communication during deployment was not as healthy or productive as it should have been. Finding ways to reconnect and communicate in healthy ways, and finding our stride as a united front for our boys was a struggle. My husband just returned from deployment again a little over a month ago and the lessons we learned years ago made this reintegration much more enjoyable. 

What is your best advice for other AFIMSC spouses?
As a counselor, I am a big advocate for self-care. In this military life, spouses are asked to do many things on the fly to accommodate spouse’s requests at a moment’s notice and acclimate to a new life in a different state quickly. We have kids and jobs that need our attention 24/7 and sometimes that means we put ourselves last. I love to remind spouses that taking time for self-care is not a fun distraction, it is an important component to living our best life and giving our best self to our kids and spouse.

Do you have a mantra that you live by and how does it help?
“You got this!” As an MFLC at Ft. Sam Houston Elementary School and mother of two boys at Texas A&M and one at Health Careers High School, I say this constantly. Kids, no matter how old they are, need encouragement and positivity. Sometimes, just saying the words helps motivate me as well.

What’s something you cherish from your time as a spouse and why? 
I cherish the strong bonds with other spouses. We find each other quickly, help one another at a moment’s notice and basically just do life together. There is nothing like it!