This is the last post during the month of Love. My original plans for today’s post was to talk about the love of and for my parents. But life always gets in the way of things, especially when you are a caregiver. But this time, life threw me a curve ball. It decided to rain happiness a few days this week instead of the normal caregiving issues and stress. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of that happening in my life this week, too. But this is not a post to focus on those. Today, we focus on the LOVE and positive, small or large, they all are worth celebrating.
First off, I want to say that without my parents, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Without their love and teachings, I don’t think I would know love, or at the very least, I would not have had the pleasure of experiencing love until much later in life. My father was a smart man. He knew he would be stuck if he didn’t get out of Pittsburgh. He also knew that he did NOT want to be drafted into the Marines, or the Army, and surely not the Navy. So after graduating high school, he enlisted into the Air Force. My mom wanted to get married before he was shipped off to Vietnam. But again, my father was the smart one. He told her “not until you graduate high school”. She had a year and a half left, I think. This gave my father time to go through basic and his tech school, as well as his tour in Nam. Once he returned home, they were married. And a few years later I was born. I grew up as a BRAT and I have always been proud of that. I thank my father for the blessings of travelling the world, growing up in a better education system than most, and understanding other cultures first hand. I got to do and see a lot more than most Americans.
It prepared me for my marriage. I knew what I was getting into, to an extent. I would follow my husband to the ends of the earth with him. While the Air Force and the Army are so very different in the way they view family, many traits are the same. Without my BRAT life, I would not understand that change is the only constant, how everything is hurry up and wait, and how the needs of the military come first. Without my mother’s undying love for my father, her willingness to accept everything that the military threw at them, and her constant role model for what a marriage is all about, I may not have grown up to love my husband that same way. I love you mom and dad!
Second, I submitted a poem to O’Dark Thirty, a Veteran’s Writing Project publication, back in October 2014. Wednesday I started considering contacting them since it had been four months. Things got busy and I didn’t that day. When I got home from work, I had an email from them saying they wanted to publish it. I was ecstatic! This is my first poetry acceptance. I will let you all know when and where you can read it once I know.
That same day, I received a card in the mail from another wife and veteran caregiver. She’s part of my only support group through Courage Beyond.
You know how we always wonder if what we say or do matters, if we ever mean (really mean) anything to someone, and if we touch someone’s heart? Those moments that someone notices, acknowledge, and actually takes the time to reach out and say something nice to someone else is far and few between nowadays it seems. And I don’t care how you do it. Sribblings on a napkin, crayon drawings, typed or handwritten, or a simple hug and a thank you. You never know how much it means. You never think that a simple smile could change someone’s whole day, even outlook on life. And then, one day, it happens. I received this beautiful card and letter in the mail today. I cried happy tears. Even though she’s still comparing, and thinks her words are silly, I reassure you, they are MOST DEFINITELY NOT! Any words that come from the heart are THE MOST BEAUTIFUL you could ever utter or write.
Thank you to our lovely host, Lexa Cain for taking over and continuing the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop. I would also like to thank her co-hosts, L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom – without them, I’m sure this would be a daunting task!
To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is put your name on the linky list on Lexa’s Blog, and then post every Friday about something you’re grateful for that week. It can be about writing or family or school or general life. This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)
Nine years ago, Heather was diagnosed with mesothelioma; a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. She had just had a baby and was given 15 months to live. After surgery to remove her left lung, Lung Leavin’ Day was born.
Over the last 5 years, we’ve seen so many lawyer ads on the TV about Mesothelioma that it’s constantly in our face. We know that it can take between 25-50 years to manifest, IF it manifests. Well, we are now at the 25 year mark from his first exposure. And now we learn that you can contract this through second-hand exposure. That means, even MY chances of contracting Mesothelioma are great because he would come home and I would snuggle up with him while he was still in uniform, and I washed his clothes. Not only that, now that I look back, I’ve lived and worked in government buildings since the day I was born.
While my husband and I are two halves to a one soul, our son completes us. We were married after a month of knowing each other. But it took us 13 years to have him. While we were learning everything we could about each other, being spontaneous and living free while everyone else was getting married and having kids right away, we took our time and enjoyed our life together. We always said we wouldn’t have a child while he was in the military because we’ve seen so many things happen to the children. Yes, I was a child of the military. I am blessed to have traveled the world and experiences so many things that most people haven’t. But there are things about that life that have hurt me, like not having a friend I could call my own since kindergarten, or even knowing how to make friends for fear I’d not have them very long, or even answering the simple question of “where are you from?”
Caring for My Veteran 