Confession

I keep reading sad stuff. I'm drawn to it. Not any sad story will do. Usually it has to be about the military or military families or war.

Like Mrs. P's blog. She's a brilliant, honest writer, but prepare yourself. She's a 23 year old Marine widow as of just 2 months ago. Almost every post makes me cry and laugh and be completely amazed by her.

Mrs. P. wrote for a series in the Washington Post called "Impact of War". On her blog she has a link to the article she wrote. So of course I read it and that led me to more sadness.

But in all the sadness I see strength. Maybe that's what I'm drawn to more than the sadness, the amazing personal strength that comes from stories of deployment and war.

Only 1% of our population serves in the military. (Does that statistic include spouses and family? Probably not, so we could say that 1% serves and another approximate 1% is directly impacted by that service.) In the last year I realized one of the responsibilities of a military spouse is to keep people talking about, thinking about, and supporting our soldiers. I am invisibly connected to about 2% of the population forever, just because of my husband's decision to enlist.

Tonight's realization, or confession, is that I'll never be out of the club. My heart will forever be drawn to stories of soldiers, deployment, and military families. My own stories (blog posts) about military life might stop, but I'll keep reading and listening to others' stories. When I read their stories I feel a connection. A connection to every military spouse past, present, and future. A need to share in their stresses, frustrations, triumphs, and pain. That sharing and connection is strong and often invisible and silent, but I've felt it.

I hope Mrs. P. feels that connection, too.