Memorial Day in our house....

I thought a lot about what to write, especially as I sat with tears streaming down my face watching the Memorial Day concert last night. There are so many who have paid the ultimate price for us to live at our standard here in the USA. And I do remember those I knew that we have lost along the way, and then I remember those who are still here, and their families, and I'm brought back to a Memorial Day 17 years ago. Brand new in the Navy, partying it up with a bunch of aviation friends at our pad in Corpus Christi out on the island. It was one of my roommates birthday that weekend and hard training started the next week so everyone was up for a good party. As the sun was setting on the water a random guy walked up and sat down next to me. At first I was annoyed because I was just wanting to watch the sunset in peace, but we talked and talked about everything and nothing. Hours passed. It was dark, the party ended and off he went. Little did I know that that chance encounter would change my life. That man professed his love for me on our first date, which scared me off. Then that man hit my leg in a soccer game, blowing out all 3 major ligaments in my knee causing full knee reconstruction in the midst of training. He took wonderful care of me during my recovery and presented me with a ring not long into our dating. After 3 days of mulling it all over I finally said yes and eased the poor guys pain. We were married less than a year later and to say it's been an interesting ride would be an understatement.

I have experienced the Navy on the active side. And I have experienced it on the side of a spouse saying goodbye repeatedly to a loved one, standing on the tarmac watching the helicopter get smaller and smaller on the horizon. I have been pregnant (fortunately he has actually made it home for all 3 deliveries!), moved, unpacked, sold cars and houses, fixed up cars and houses, dried countless tears of children who miss their father, breathed deeply when I thought it was too overwhelming to carry on alone anymore, been discharged from the Navy, gone back to school, been a cleaner, cooker, chauffeur, veterinarian, single mom, stay at home mom, working mom, frazzled mom, happy mom and a proud Navy wife and veteran.

So on Memorial Day as I get ready to pack and move for the last government mandated time, as I ready my children to be without their Dad for two years, for the last time, it may seem crazy but I feel blessed. No the next two years aren't going to be easy, and I'm sure there are days where there won't be enough wine at the store for me, but then I will crawl into bed and wake up the next day in a country where my children have choices: of who they want to be, where they want to go in life, and find a journey to get there. They won't be forced into labor (unless it's cleaning their rooms and our house!), or told their career choices or religion. They can respectfully stand up and shout out their opinions and listen to other opinions and learn and grow. For those that have fallen on the way....we will remember you today.