SERVING THE ARMED FORCES
My friend, Mary Jo, shipped out this week-for Iraq. For the next 90 days she'll be doing what doctors do best in the Army-taking care of the sick and suffering and the soldiers who serve our great nation. I'm so proud of her-and proud of others like her-others like my brother-who have willingly given of themselves-so the rest of us can be ourselves...free to run our lives in a democratic society-that gives us a chance to make our own way-even when we don't know which way to go.
Serving in the Armed Forces-is a challenging way of life. Believe me-this military brat knows from whence she cometh. But I can honestly tell you-that despite the sacrifices, the obstacles and the uncommon way of life--I am proud to be counted among the children of career military men and women.
In the book I'm writing about my life's escapades, I climb aboard the merry go round ride that was my life as a kid growing up in the Air Force. As I wander down memory lane, I wonder at how countless families survived the constant uprooting-from state to state and country to country..how they bid farewell during the heartbreaking goodbyes, or faced the constant repetition- "hello my name is"-the new kid at school...the new kid in town...the new friend, the one with no dad for a year at a time...or the one with the foreign mom who doesn't drive and who sure doesn't want to be left alone-again and again.
We are a subculture within the culture of a nation that prides itself on diversity and diversification. And lucky for us-and for those who get to know us-we are more accepting than most...of everything and everyone...We move to a higher level of understanding-a deeper level of consciousness, because-that's what our way of life has taught us. To accept one another-other cultures, other races, other ethnicity's, other religions, other lifestyle choices.
Our lives have taught us to be open minded, because we've seen too much...We've moved through this great big world with eyes wide open. No one can pin us down-place us into any one category or define us by any one philosophy or feeling...We've felt it all -we've been there and done that more times than anyone who grew up and got going in their home grown, hometown--can even imagine.
So, when someone I know-a friend of mine-or a brother...or anyone in a uniform, heads to a danger zone -risking their lives so that the rest of us may live...I'm impressed and proud and feeling like a million bucks-because I get it...I get their sacrifice and in return, they get my Loving support and my prayers for their safe return...because their risk- is our gift -of life. I try to let them know that.
Please, pray for my friend Mary Jo--for my brother and for the others-who have gone before and the ones following in the rear. They're people, with a special mission, that means more to our peaceful security and to our happy future, than most of us will ever really understand.
May God Bless them all!
Serving in the Armed Forces-is a challenging way of life. Believe me-this military brat knows from whence she cometh. But I can honestly tell you-that despite the sacrifices, the obstacles and the uncommon way of life--I am proud to be counted among the children of career military men and women.
In the book I'm writing about my life's escapades, I climb aboard the merry go round ride that was my life as a kid growing up in the Air Force. As I wander down memory lane, I wonder at how countless families survived the constant uprooting-from state to state and country to country..how they bid farewell during the heartbreaking goodbyes, or faced the constant repetition- "hello my name is"-the new kid at school...the new kid in town...the new friend, the one with no dad for a year at a time...or the one with the foreign mom who doesn't drive and who sure doesn't want to be left alone-again and again.
We are a subculture within the culture of a nation that prides itself on diversity and diversification. And lucky for us-and for those who get to know us-we are more accepting than most...of everything and everyone...We move to a higher level of understanding-a deeper level of consciousness, because-that's what our way of life has taught us. To accept one another-other cultures, other races, other ethnicity's, other religions, other lifestyle choices.
Our lives have taught us to be open minded, because we've seen too much...We've moved through this great big world with eyes wide open. No one can pin us down-place us into any one category or define us by any one philosophy or feeling...We've felt it all -we've been there and done that more times than anyone who grew up and got going in their home grown, hometown--can even imagine.
So, when someone I know-a friend of mine-or a brother...or anyone in a uniform, heads to a danger zone -risking their lives so that the rest of us may live...I'm impressed and proud and feeling like a million bucks-because I get it...I get their sacrifice and in return, they get my Loving support and my prayers for their safe return...because their risk- is our gift -of life. I try to let them know that.
Please, pray for my friend Mary Jo--for my brother and for the others-who have gone before and the ones following in the rear. They're people, with a special mission, that means more to our peaceful security and to our happy future, than most of us will ever really understand.
May God Bless them all!
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