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"A Tribute To Military Spouses"
Over the years I have talked a lot about military
spouses,
how special they are and the price they pay for freedom
too.
The funny thing about it, is most military spouses don’t
consider themselves different from other spouses. They do
what they have to do, bound together not by blood or merely
friendship, but with a shared spirit whose origin is in the
very essence of what love truly is. Is there truly a
difference? You have to decide for yourself.
Other spouses get married and look forward to building
equity in a home and putting down family roots. Military
spouses get married and know they’ll live in base housing or
rent, and their roots must be short so they can be
transplanted frequently.Other spouses decorate a home with
flair and personality that will last a lifetime.
Military spouses decorate a home with flare tempered with
the knowledge that no two base houses have the same size
windows or same size rooms. Curtains have to be flexible and
multiple sets are a plus. Furniture must fit like puzzle
pieces.Other spouses have immaculate living rooms and are
seldom used. Military spouses have immaculate living
room/dining room combos. The coffee table got a scratch or
two moving from Germany, but it still looks pretty good.
Other spouses say good-bye to their spouse for a business
trip and know they won’t see them for a week. They are
lonely, but can survive. Military spouses say good-bye to
their deploying spouse and know that they won’t see them for
a month, or for a remote, a year. They are lonely, but they
will survive.
Other spouses, when a washer hose blows off, call Maytag
and then write a check out for getting the hose reconnected.
Military spouses will cut the water off and fix it
themselves. Other spouses get used to saying hello to
friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to
saying good-bye to friends made the last two years.
Other spouses worry about whether their child will be
class president next year. Military spouses worry about
whether their child will be accepted in yet another new
school next year and whether that school will be the worst
in the city...again.
Other spouses can count on spouse participation in
special events, birthdays, anniversaries, concerts, football
games, graduation, and even the birth of a child. Military
spouses only count on each other; because they realize that
the Flag has to come first if freedom is to survive. It has
to be that way.
Other spouses put up yellow ribbons when the troops are
imperiled across the globe and take them down when the
troops come home. Military spouses wear yellow ribbons
around their hearts and they never go away.
Other spouses worry about being late for Mom’s
Thanksgiving dinner. Military spouses worry about getting
back from Japan in time for Dad’s funeral.And other spouses
are touched by the television program showing an elderly
lady putting a card down in the front of a long, black wall
that has names on it. The card simply says, "Happy Birthday,
Sweetheart. You would have been sixty today." A military
spouse is the lady with the card. The wall is the Vietnam
Memorial.
I would never say military spouses are better or worse
than other spouses are. But I will say there is a
difference. And I will say that our country asks more of
military spouses than asked of other spouses. And I will say
without hesitation that military spouses pay just as high a
price for freedom as do their active duty husbands or wives.
Perhaps the price they pay is even higher.
Dying in service to our Country isn’t near as hard as
loving someone who has died in service to our Country, and
having to live without them.
God Bless our military spouses for all they freely
give...
And God Bless America.
By Colonel Steven Arrington
Let's Keep It Lit!
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"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America, and to the Republic for which it
stands. One nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all."
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MUSIC: "I
LOVE YOU"...LEFTY FRIZELL
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