European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Lydia Sloan Cline on today s military wife by Rosemary Sawyer stall writer tip from a it fran military Wilo May have Aveil l Sclia Sloan Cline s furniture irom the hands of crabby movers but it ended up costing her hundreds of hours of her spare do Cline received the hint irom a seasoned military spouse a Lew years ago while they stood in line to consign items at a thrill shop at fort Campbell. By. Make sure you have plenty of cold drinks and sandwiches on hand for the  the woman told Cline when learning of her upcoming overseas move the common sense advice which is As ingrained As saluting Lor some military families had never occurred to Cline. Who had spent 17 years in the same House and had had no Contact with the military until she married her Soldier husband yeah it keeps their Energy up the woman continued they Don t get As crabby and they la take better care of your things " gosh what else do you have to Tell me Cline said she remembered thinking a vivacious Cline who admits to being the Type la write travel logs and Christmas lorm letters started letting Down bits of advice she picked up along her Luct few learn As you go years Olmi itary Lile As i was accumulating a own information. I thought gee would t it be Nice to Start sharing this information and you know it started becoming a monster because then. S to much information out  Cline said Tiai hic neg the glasses hat always go crooked in photographs Slack pole books  Cline s 240 Page monster in october under thu title toddy s military Wile meeting the challenges of service Lite Cline. An architect who until october worked Lor the engineering and housing directorate in Mainz West Germany wrote the Book in her spare Lime Over a 2 a year period the animated 30 year old also recently added motherhood to Hei non Stop lifestyle with Amber who is now to months old Cline s paperback baby turned out being much Muse than a compilation of military hints irom Heloise she paired the Handy tips irom wives with How to reference material gathered from military Community officials her fold Erful of tips turned into a Bonavide Book when she started receiving letters of interest from publishers i had to Start writing More than Little Wile tips that s when i had to Start actually researching and making sure the things i was putting out were right and not people s or my own misunderstandings of  shr said. With the research however came her first doubts All the books Lor military wives had been written by generals or admirals wives making her wonder in she ranked worthy of such an undertaking with All these generals and admirals wives you know who am i said the army Captain s Wile even her husband wondered whether she had the Book writing stuff of the senior officers wives Cline recalled her husband s vote of Confidence Lydia he said a Book like this in t for someone like you to write this is Lor a colonel s Wile to write " but the intimidation did t last Cline said tapping the finished product on the table and thumbing through its pages. She could offer military wives something the military matriarchs could not As a company Grade officer s wife i have a lot of Friend among both officer and no and enlisted  she said. I m More in touch frankly with How of gawk we. Nothing against general s wives i just Leei that when you get that High you do lose touch Lydia Sloan Cline teats through a copy of her Book. About some things " Cline called the previous books authoritative rather than instructive their tone was marked with i m the general s Wile and this is How you do  she said the books with copyrights irom the 1940s through 1972 each addressed Only wives of a single service Branch and most were for officers Waves. She said rather than dealing with issues like a wife s own career or child care they dealt mostly with protocol with How to conduct yourselves at teas Cline called this  although she conceded in symbolized Tho times Cline noted too the general s Wile experience does t always typify that of the average military Wile Don t Tell me the Nice Man in the Ollice will help Rne " Cline scoffed. Maybe the Nice Man will help the general s wife. I be had to fight a lot harder  Cline s also had to struggle More because of her Lack of military background a situation she said Many Young brides face when they marry men in uniform i knew nothing about the military when i married my husband Cline said. Her husband on the other hand grew up in it. When Cline asked questions such As. Do you have to pay a phone Bill when you live in quarters she often received Short tempered replies from her husband whose father is a retired command sergeant major. Of course you pay Lor a phone what do you  snid Cline mimicking the Exchange monday december 25, 1989 s8.s Jim  to was impatient because it was second nature to him and to me it was All new everything in Here arc things by god. I wish i knew Cline said thumping the Book because i would have read i instead of asking him and getting his snappish replies " ii Cline had had the Benefit of her Book she d have read about dental care space available travel and pension benefits Learned How to find a Job with the government ship a car buy a House and choose Between quarters and an off base apartment her husband would t have had to Tell her that an Les is a paycheck stub Dodds a school system and Dity. A do it yourself move the list goes on. But Cline who was interviewed shortly before leaving Germany did have chapter 8 titled on the move Lor her october move to fort Sill okla where husband Roger has a new assignment Cline reported a relatively smooth move with routine glitches that would t Laze most of the 100 military wives she interviewed. Sure there was the initial quarters inspection team that told them they did t need to repaint their Kitchen cabinets. And the Linal inspection team that told them they needed to by Kitchen cabinets aside you can bet the moving team ale Well while they packaged up the family s furniture and household goods Alt Rall. It was the lip on feeding the movers that led to Cline s Book today s military wife will be available in stars s stripes bookstores in mid january Tor $14 95 the stars and stripes Page 13