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Wow, a night full of tradition, precision and pageantry and hotties in uniforms. One more thing to add to my list of things I love about the military. Continue reading
Some things are just easier with a friend by your side. Navigating the military journey is definitely one of them. I’m sure you’ve heard your soldier talk about his/her # 906. Battle buddies that he/she has bonded with through their service. Your soldier doesn’t have to be the only one that has someone who understands what they do all day or that will “have their back” should they ever need protecting. The same can be true for you. Continue reading
Overhead, almost out of nowhere, we saw a bright orange United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter race across the skyline in front of us. My children grabbed their boogie boards and ran to my beach chair rattling off questions faster than I could answer. Continue reading
Here in the Crooks household we use the dry erase board for everything. It’s how we plan our days, our grocery lists, and our appointments. So it wasn’t anything out of the normal routine for my husband to jot down his thoughts and his “to do list” while preparing for his upcoming deployment …. There was one thing, and I noticed it the minute I walked by the board, which stood out. “O-Bit Write-Up.” Perhaps he thought if he abbreviated it that I wouldn’t catch that he had put on his to do list a reminder to write his obituary. If so, it didn’t work. I stood in front of the dry erase board and cried. Continue reading
Posted in Worth Joining For, Worth Staying For
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I recently offered to show a group of local women how to use weights at the gym, women in their 50’s and 60’s. I was shocked to hear how many of them had never stepped inside a gym, at least not since high school in some cases and not ever for others. And none of them had used weights before.
I realize that without the Army, that might have been me.
Continue reading
As a new military spouse – I complained. I complained to anyone who would listen to me. That’s right, I was that spouse who would stop you in the commissary and tell you how bad my life was. Maybe I would tell you about the time I was seriously ill and my husband was not able to leave his training to come to my side. I might tell you about how I left my amazing career on the East Coast to get married and then I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and couldn’t find a job. I might even tell you about my expectations of married life and how my reality was nothing like what I expected. I was married but I hardly ever saw my husband – What’s up with that? Continue reading
Unlike Kathie, I am not a pessimist at core. So, it wasn’t a stretch to any of my friends and family that I would end up writing a book about 1001 Things to Love About Military Life. On the contrary, most of them probably wondered what took me so long. Continue reading
When we first told people we were writing this book, responses ranged from “How can you talk about things to love with a war going on and military members being horribly wounded or killed?” to “Thank you for reminding us of all the good in the military and military life.” There are certainly many things to not love right now about our military reality, as we continue into our tenth year at war. Just this fact for example: our country is at war but polls show that for 70+% of our population, the war is “off their radar screens.” Continue reading
To infinity … and beyond! At one time, that phrase was nothing more than the signature phrase of my son’s good friend Buzz Lightyear. Over time, it has become our family thing to say after “I love you” or to cheer … Continue reading
Posted in Worth Joining For
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