The kindness of a stranger.... by Jasa

Lately I have resigned myself to the fact that most people are tired of hearing about the war and the soldiers, they are stuck on the politics of the whole situation and have forgotten about the thousands who serve to protect us everyday without fail or reservation. But then something happened...

Tonight I went grocery shopping in a store that I frequent, but this one is in another town that I do not frequent, for some reason, tonight I just turned the other way.

Bella and I were deciding what kind of juice to buy and she was getting antsy, so I gave her my cell phone and she was fiddling with it for a while and then she asked to call my mom and then my sister. So we called my sister and they talked for a while, but Bella quit talking so I took the phone back and told Jess good-bye and kept shopping. A few minutes later Bella asked if we could call Bapa, that's what the kids call my dad, and I told her that I did not have the phone number for his office in Iraq, so she asked where he was in Iraq and I told her that he is near where daddy was and we went on shopping.

As we turned the frozen food aisle a women walked up to us and said that she had overheard our conversation about Iraq and wanted to make sure that we told my dad and husband thank you for all they are doing. I never know quite what to say when people say this- it doesn't happen too often- so I told her thank you and that I would tell them. She went on talking and then handed me something and said that it wasn't much compared to what we had already sacrificed, but she and her husband wanted to do something. I again thanked her and assured her I would thank my dad and husband, at this point I am almost in tears, I always feel like I should have something more to say than Thank You.

As she walked away I looked down and saw that she had handed me a gift card for the grocery store we were in. She must have known that I was on a pretty tight budget this week!! I figured that she had just saved me $10.00 and was grateful for that. When Bella and I reached the check-out, I opened the gift card and was written out for $50.00!! I wanted to run out in the parking lot and thank this woman and tell her what it means to have people really mean it when they say " Thank your so-and-so for serving"

I don't make a point to go around stores saying that my family is serving in Iraq in the hopes that someone with deep pockets will overhear and hand me their AmEx and say "Whatever you want" We are very proud of our friends and family who are serving all over the Middle East and I just wish that everyone would stop for a minute and realize that the soldiers are doing their job. They don't sign up hoping to miss births, deaths, birthdays, first days, first steps, first home-runs, anniversaries, holidays or to watch their families go on without them. They sign up to feel a sense of pride, that they are doing something good, that they are helping make the world a safer, better place for all of us.

To them I say THANK YOU and I meant it. To the kind woman in the grocery store I say THANK YOU, you have restored my faith in the kindness of strangers, thank you.
Jasa

Waiting for the other boot to drop... by Jasa

Our family has been in a somewhat constant state or worry over the last 7 months. Since the day Jake and I met, we have not been together for more than 17 months. The 17 month 1 day mark hits and Jake comes home with orders to be deployed. It seems like we get into a good rythmn and then BOOM, the other boot drops and we are disrupted again.

I have gotten used to it, or so I think. It has gotten easier for me to wave good-bye or not go into hysterics when we drop him off in front or some non-descript building near an airfield - in the middle of the night. I have watched him walk away from us more times than I care to recall, but thankfully he has returned safely to us when his time was served.

What does not get easier is the look in our childrens eyes when he walks away. As they have gotten older, the real meaning of what daddy is doing has begun to sink in. When our oldest was younger, it seemed like daddy was on vacation and would come back when he was done, and I wish I could have felt that. But as both of children have grown up with daddy gone, it has become harder to sugar-coat. Our son gets moody and our daughter gets SUPER clingy, to the point where I have to be in the same room at all times, even the bathroom. We talk about what daddy is doing and where he will be and that he has a very important job to do and that when he is done he will come home again.

So Jake has been home for just over two years now and we are just waiting for the call or the envelope in the mail and when it does come I will be prepared to take on the many additional roles that my children need me to play. We will go on as close to normal as we can and wait for the phone calls and letters and cross off the days on the calendar until the one that says "Daddy is coming home"

Have a fabulous day.
Jasa

Thoughts on the war from Jasa

It seems that being a military wife gives you an inside political track, at least that is what everyone thinks. Over the past ten years I have been asked things like, what do they do in that big building with no windows, do you know if the war is going to end this term, and the ever present, so how do you feel about the war, the President or the media? I always warn people not to ask me about the war unless they are prepeared to receive an honest answer.

This is my standard..." I think that we are over there for reasons that we, the normal people, will never know. But because I have a long family history in the military, I support the President and most of all, out troops. My husband and my father have both spent tours in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. I have to support our troops, because I KNOW that there is good being done. I have walls full of pictures, real pictures not printed off of a web site pictures, of children waving and giving peaces signs to passing soldiers, pictures of old women collecting brass from the shooting ranges and being helped by soldiers, pictures of my husband and his unit feeding a stray dog and cat and I have pictures of a beautiful country that has known so much violence and suffering, but of a country where schools are being built, children are getting medical care and people can feel a little bit safer because the United States is there."

Some people might argue that there is also harm being done, but I think of it like this. When you decide to clean your closet, you have to pull out all of the junk and make a bigger mess before you can get everything in order again. So we are cleaning out all of the "junk" to make Iraq a safer place for it's people to live and hopefully, in the end we will have helped make it a place where people want to go instead of the place our husbands and wives HAVE to go.

Have a blessed day and remember to thank a soldier.

Jasa

Jasa's Intro

I am delighted to be writing a blog on my adventures as an ARMY wife and mom to two BRATS. Though it has been hard and we have spent more time apart than together, I wouldn't trade my ARMY man for anything.

I got married VERY young, right out of high school, to my favorite soldier. We have been married for almost 10 years, but we joke that it has only been 5 since he has been gone so much.

Being married to military man, or woman, is no walk in the park. You learn to rely on yourself and make friends with those who are in the same boat. Not knowing if your spouse will be home at the end of the day can be quite unnerving and it has happened to us. Don't blame your soldier, they are doing the job they signed up for and that is something you should be proud of.

Having children and being married in the military is whole other ball of wax. You get to be the mother, father, nurse, teacher, doctor and maid all in the same day, sometimes for months at a time.

I hope that in writing this blog I can help some one who may need support or make another military wife say "ok, so I am not the only who is going through this" You have a huge network of wives and husbands out there going through the same thing. So welcome to my Blog and enjoy the fun and tears and know that you are not alone.

Jasa