As my husband is away longer every day; I am trying to find something, anything really to keep my mind from worrying so much. It's not an easy task. I enjoy researching things online. I seem for whatever reason to have the ability to find out a lot of information online. Locating things that we as a Nation can do to help show our support to our troops; is something that I find very rewarding.
Our troops deserve not only our support but our admiration for their sacrifices. Have you ever seen a service member in your town; and just walked up to them and said thank you? You would be surprised what that small little gesture really means to our troops. It lets them know that what they do for us every day is appreciated and not forgotten.
I live in small town America. There isn't much of anything here. There is however a National Guard Armory not far from our town. Seeing our service members in uniform is not unusual around here. This made me think of something a little more off key. If we have x amount of service members around our area; think about how many family members of those serving are around here as well.
We do our best to make sure the soldiers know that we appreciate their sacrifices; that's great! We NEED to do more to show them that we take pride in what they do for us.
My point today is that the families of those serving also serve. Some stronger than others; all with pride. These last few months have been difficult for me to get through as my soldier has had to leave for training sessions and then off to fight a war. That leaves me to my point; what help is there around here to say thank you to their families? Zero.
Those family members should also be shown appreciation. After all if they weren't standing strongly next to their soldiers; our soldiers wouldn't have their minds on what they need to be doing overseas. Let's face it; if they are worried about what is going on at home or the fact that they don't have the support of their loved ones; then they don't have their minds on staying safe.
We NEED them to be safe so that they can come back home to us. We need that. We need them back home to their families. The families need them to be safe so that they can rejoin their family at home. So how do we go about making sure the families has the support that they need? Well that's really the question. We support the troops by sending care packages, letters, whatever we can to make their lives a little better while they are fighting to make our lives at home easier and safer.
As a family member of a soldier I can tell you without a doubt; having your loved one so far away in harms way every second they are there is more difficult than anyone can imagine. That is unless you are going through it as well. Being proud of our soldiers is the easy part; letting them walk out our door is the hard part. What can we do? Nothing except stand behind them every step of the way.
What can we do to help the families of those soldiers? Support them with whatever they may need. rather it is just a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to listen. We need and must support the family as well as the soldiers themselves. We have great nation here in the USA. We have caring people that support one another. We must show the families of our service men and women that we are here to support them too.
How do we do that? How can we show them our support? It starts off with kindness. Unlike with our soldier's the families don't have a uniform to show you they are family of a soldier. So how do we recognize them? If we are kind to every person we meet; there's a good possibility that you are being kind to a member of a soldiers family. Kindness goes a long way. Be kind.
Don't judge anyone. If you see someone walking through a store in tears, don't judge them. You don't know their story. You don't know if they have a soldier that was just deployed; or if they just got word that their soldier won't be coming back home after paying the ultimate sacrifice. Be kind don't judge. Be there to listen if someone wants to talk, does it really matter if we don't know that person? No, it shouldn't. Sometimes we just need to talk and need someone to listen.
Open your heart. How would you feel if it was your loved one overseas in harms way? Everyone feels differently, but one thing we all feel is worry. We all worry if our loved one will be able to return to us safe and sound. We know there is a good possibility that they won't. Our hearts have to be able to believe that they will though. Show compassion to those that need to talk to you. We need someone to show us that they care.
Every town in America should have a place where the families of service people can go for support. Not just one in the big cities. We can't all travel hundreds of miles to attend a short meeting. Traveling three hours one way for a one hour meeting, isn't always possible. Have a place where families can meet up just to offer and get support from other families.
I can only give advice on what I know. Find everything out that you can. Research where your troop member will be located. Research what is out there available to our soldiers and to our families. you will be amazed what is available to your soldier. Do little things that will show your troop member that they are appreciated by many.
I signed my soldier up to receive free e-books. Books are one of the top things on the lists of soldiers that they would like to receive. I also found a organization that sends free Christmas care packages out to soldiers free of charge. Get friends and co-workers to write to the troops. Mail from home helps to keep their spirits up while being deployed.
I'm sitting here trying to get ideas up for a support group/meeting for the families around our area. I would like to get one set up here. I can't travel hours away to attend a short meeting. I would like to see get togethers for the families. A place we can all go to just sit and talk about what we are all going through at the same time.
Maybe have some guest speakers. Maybe we could have retired soldiers come in and tell us what it is for them being deployed. As family members we know what it feels like for us being at home waiting for the day they will be able to walk through the door at home.
I don't know yet how to get something started, but I am looking into it. I would like to see others getting something together for their areas as well. Maybe we could all get together and figure out a way to do this. I feel like this is something that is important. We have the FRG yes, but that isn't always a very big help as we are not all close enough to get the support we need from them.
Well enough rambling for one day. If anyone wants to chat about getting a family program set up; please feel free to contact me through this blog.
Operation Help A Soldier--- http://www.helpasoldier.org/
Betty
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