Coffee, Curls & Pearls: When You Come Home.

I've lived in an Air Force Community my entire life. It's come with perks, like always having 150 airmen behind your back when you need them, but it's also come with disadvantages, like attending more than my fair share of funerals. I hate to get things off to a sad start but it's true, since I was little I've had to attend more than my fair share of military funerals. Although I never lost a parent or sibling in combat, I've seen first hand what it's like to loose somebody.
During DYW boot camp week while doing our talents my Secret Sister Jackie was super nervous about her talent portion. Honestly I thought she was being dramatic about the whole thing at first, then she did it. Everybody was in tears. It was to a song called "When You Come Home" (You can listen to it on Youtube here.) Honestly it hit home for a lot of us.
My mother made a deal with the commander when I was little to never get orders to move again in trade for many tours of duty. These tours lasted anywhere from 3 to 9 months. My mom was gone a lot, she was fighting for things that I had no idea about. The only thing I knew was that my mom got to "Travel the world". Well traveling the world in a different sense, she was in anywhere from combat zones in Iraq, to desk jobs in Yemen and Pakistan. My mother developed a love for her job and a pretty Rad tan.
There is always one thing that I will never forget, when I was about 7 My Mother was on a Tour of Duty, she called every night at 8:30 my time so that I could talk to her right before bed. One night she didn't call. Of course my dad thought nothing of it, it's just one night no biggie. actually to me it was a huge biggie. This night could probably be classified as my first "All niter". Did not sleep a wink until the next morning, waiting for that call. Of course this probably sounds way to dramatic for a 7 year old's brain, but hey, it was our thing.
Turns out my mom didn't call that night because she was moving camps and didn't have phone access. That is one feeling that I will never forget, being so scared that something happened. I can't imagine how it would be to have that feeling every night.
A few weeks later, my mom came home.
Please, I beg you, the next time you see somebody in uniform say a prayer for them and their safekeeping along with their family. The next time that you see something on the news about a war zone with Americans on the ground, remember that those people fighting are there for your saftey, and your rights. They are somebody's Father, Brother, Sister, Son, Mother, Daughter, Friend, Husband, Wife, they are somebody's whole world.