It's the little things that count..

All four in one place at the same time-it's a miracle!

As a military mom it is not only the big things that get to you-it can be the every day things that most take for granted. For example getting all four of mine in one place at the same time is quite a challenge. As I sit on our hilltop farm and look out on a holiday I can see clusters of families gathering together-not my kids. I may be lucky to get a double or a triple but very seldom do I get a home run of everyone together.

It's funny-when they were home all the time I think they got the basics of hand to hand combat completed in my living room. I would head to town and war would break out. The battles raged, casualties abounded including lampshades and then the phone would ring. " Kids, I am on the way home-anything else we need?" Immediately they sprang into action just like Thing1 and Thing 2-in this case also Thing 3 and Thing 4-and all worked together to put things back in order.  A few days later I might ask, "What happened to this lamp shade? " to be met by silence. Of course all of this has only recently been disclosed now that the statute of limitations has run out.  They work hard to see each other when they can, but that little thing of normal life together is a thing of the past.

When they were home I knew their friends,their comings and goings, and supported them in their activities. I sat on so many bleachers  that I developed bleacher bottom-an increase in girth directly attributed to hours sitting in the car or the bleachers. Now the questions remain unanswered-what did you do at work today, where are you, when will you be home? OPSEC reigns supreme and I find myself reading the news to figure out if my kid might be there. The not knowing-and being less a part of their lives because of it-those are little things I took for granted in years gone by.

I have to say the one thing that really has upped the ante when I think of the little things is my grandchildren. During my sons' first deployments they were newlyweds. Their wives stepped it up and bravely held down the home front. They dealt with all the things that can go wrong. As it says in Mrs
Murphy's Law :
           If anything can go wrong it will happen when he is out of town-or on deployment.

But this time around-well it is different. There is a little girl left behind. Six months when Daddy left and she will be a year old when he comes home. The first tooth, the first steps-no amount of technology can replace missing those milestones.When we talk about personal sacrifice- it can be the little things that mean so much.

Off we go.......

A happy ending

Last week we were dealing with our own mini crisis-my daughters engagement ring was taken from her visiting officers quarters where she is in training. She felt secure there and had a hard lesson in reality just as others have had in summer training and even on the Yard. After reporting it and visiting pawn shops around the base she became resigned to her loss-until it magically reappeared today. It is a happy ending that I wish could be multiplied for many others. The lesson learned-vigilance and using precautions-will stand her in good stead in the future no matter where she is.

I think we all have a certain sense of security when it comes to being on a domestic military base-at least we did until the events at FT Hood unfolded. I am sure many of you have had a hard time getting your minds around those events. What most of you don't know is one of our own USNA moms worked right down the hall from the alleged assailant. I was worried sick. I finally did hear from her a few days ago-and all is well although she is running ragged taking care of her patients. It is funny where the USNA connections lead. But more importantly what seemed like a big loss became a drop in the bucket compared to so much more. The true diamonds are the men and women who paid the ultimate price.

It's a small world

It’s a small world when you are connected to the military. Just yesterday I got a surprise phone call from my Navy son who is currently deployed, He told a story about flying and needing to contact a ship. The responding officer was one of his USNA class mates. The world gets even smaller in the Marine Corps-especially in Marine aviation. So when I heard the news this morning that two Marine helicopters collided and the crew was lost the lump jumped into my throat. Even though my Marine is safe and sound in San Diego those pilots and their families are on my heart.
I used to get the Marine Corps Times-I stopped when I began traveling so much this past summer. The casualty lists are posted each week along with the photos of the nation’s newest heroes. I would think about their families and how proud they were to carry those pictures of their sons and daughters . Even though we never met, we share a connection and a kinship that comes with having a child volunteer to serve in harm’s way.
So tonight I am praying for those who will soon learn that they have lost someone very precious to them. We share the pride and the pain-it is a small world for those of us who love someone in the military.