Bridgit Mendler, 2012
This week I had planned to write about trying to break back into the business world. Starting from what seemed like scratch is hard on the soul and the mind. But then something happened ...
Bridgit Mendler, 2012
This week I had planned to write about trying to break back into the business world. Starting from what seemed like scratch is hard on the soul and the mind. But then something happened ...
Torn
Natalie Imbruglia, 1997
Today, I broke my cardinal rule of deployment: never have a meltdown in front of your husband while he is deployed. As a side note, that is the rule that I impose on myself not a rule that I impose on others. But let’s go back and see where it started.
Don’t Stop Believin’
Journey, 1981
Preview Song
Who Are You?
The Who, 1978p>
Preview Song
Whitesnake,1987
Here we go again. That really is what I thought as I pulled out the camera and lined everyone up to quickly take a picture of my favorite soldier and his kids before they got on the bus for school. This picture would commemorate the start of our fifth (gulp) deployment.
Are you still sweating out a deployment while waves of soldiers roll in from Iraq?
It can be tough to smile amid all the happiness when you are still enduring the pain of separation.
A free photo book program through the USO can help to shorten that distance, at least in pictures.
The USO has partnered with RocketLife to allow military family members to create a custom photo book and have it shipped to their deployed service member. The full-color books are small enough to fit in a cargo pocket and hold more than 60 photos.
After five deployments, my family has seen and tried a lot of ways to keep connected.
We’ve emailed. We’ve skyped. My husband has recorded himself reading books to the kids. We’ve made countdown charts. We’ve lit deployment candles. My kids have a daddy doll, a daddy blanket and a jar full of kisses to eat each night before he returns.
They are each sweet, cheesy and necessary in their own way. I’ve finally come across a deployment item that just weirds me out a bit: the heart beat pillow.
The last American soldiers have left Iraq. That is excellent news.
The problems have just begun at home. This is not news to military spouses.
Many of the thousands of soldiers who have served in Iraq have not deployed just once. They’ve gone three, four, even five times to the desert frontlines.
Roadside bombs and IED attacks have left wounds on their bodies and their minds. Suicide rates continue to skyrocket as they try to return to normal life.