“My” veteran is my sister Erin. She served our country for four years from 2006-2010. She saw active war for 15 months and still suffers physically from the toll that deployment took on her body. Army life is so different from the “American” life. It is kind of like marriage or childbirth, no matter how hard you try to explain it to someone, to prepare them for it, you can not fully understand it until you have lived it.
I often used to wonder why we put so much emphasis on veterans that haven’t served in years but now I know. They give the “ultimate” sacrifice by signing years of their life away to a system that abuses them. They, at times, get little sleep, little nutrition, and even less personal time. Their life is truly not their own for the years of their service. They miss birthdays, weddings, births, deaths, and more. Those are things that they can never get back.
My sisters and I have always been close. Her time in active duty and more so her deployment was almost unbearable for me at times. I hurt as she missed the birth of my fourth born. I cried when she was injured by an explosion but I couldn’t be there to hug her and care for her. Active duty effects the whole family. But I am so proud of her for her service. Veterans are people just like you and I. But they carry hurt, grief, missed milestones, and pain for the rest of their life. And why? For you and for me. We live in freedom because of them. So, let’s never forget or take lightly the next time you meet a veteran. For, just as marriage or motherhood changes you forever, so does army life. Once a mother, always a mother. Once a soldier, always a veteran.
This post is linked to Ben and Me “Blogging Through the Alphabet”. Read more posts HERE.
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