author unknown

before i begin, let me just say that i in no way, ever intend to offend or upset anyone with my posts.....

military pride runs deep in my family.....my pawpaw fought in war....my great grandfather fought in war....my daddy retired from the army.....my brother is a marine stationed in japan......his wife was in the air force.....my father in law is retired air force......i have an uncle and a cousin that were both in the air force....i have a cousin right now that is hopefully going to be on his way home from his 3rd or 4th tour in iraq soon.....my daughters father(the x-husband) was in the army and my husband now is in the army....he has served in bosnia, did his tour in korea and been to iraq twice......

i am a very proud and patriotic american.....have been since birth.....it runs in my blood and is a huge part of my heritage, making me who i am today.....it did not take a catastrophic event like sept 11 to make me fly a flag or tie a yellow ribbon....or a horrid war to make me say thanks to the military.....so with all that being said, i will now tell you what this is all about....

im a writing today in reference to a comment left anonymously on my S&T for this past friday.....i deleted the comment in a moment of frustration that now i wish i had not....next time, i will leave it for all to read and see....

the comment was not about my S&T itself, but rather about the move update i did at the very beginning of the post.....obviously they had also read my post for that thursday as well and felt that i was being a whinny baby and asking for thanks and a pat on the back that did not belong to me, but to my husband.....because it was he who was in the military and not me (not quoted, but the gist of it)....and all that was followed by the infamous "YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE GETTING INTO BY MARRYING A MILITARY MAN!!!"

first off those are words that should be considered a sin unless you yourself are a military spouse....we say that amongst ourselves as one spouse to another,as a way to keep up our own strength.....if you are not a military spouse, you dont know what it is that we do or do not do to even be able to say that.....

secondly, i am not sure if i came off as being a whinny baby or not....if so, i am sorry.....all i can say is that i am only human and the flesh is weak at times....i read over both posts to see where i might have come off as whining.....the only thing i see is that i made a comment about us really wanting to make this move together, therefore it would suck if stephen had to go before us.....i guess i forget that not everyone knows me that well and would know that i was making reference to the fact that we have been married for almost a year, with only three of those months spent together as a family.....and before i go any further, yes, we are truly blessed that stephen did return home safely to us and we thank GOD every day for that.....

and thirdly, i say this....to the unknown author, do me a favor and take a look at your life.....inventory all the things that you have been blessed with.....all the liberties and experiences that have been so freely given to you(leaving comments like that)...once you have done so, find someone in the military, no matter the branch....no matter if they are active, retired, reserves, or national guard....shake their hand....tell them thanks....find their spouse and kids, tell them thank you...because it is because of all of them, from the founding of our country to the end of life as we will know it, that you have, and will continue to have what you have.....it is their sacrifices and hardships that make this THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE.....

to my fellow bloggers, thank you for your kind words and prayers....they are much appreciated.....much needed and much loved by our family.....we will continue to pray for you as well.....and to those of you in my shoes or that have ever been in my shoes....thank you for the sacrifice that you and your family made for me and mine....we love you for that....

in closing,(i know this has gotten really long)i would like to send out a personal thank you to ALL of the military members and their families.....thank you for what you did, what you do, and what you will continue to do for me and my family.....we will continue to pray for strength and courage for each and everyone one of you.....GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!